Two Paths
by Sakura Emblem
Summary: "Goodbye Mom,Dad." "Welcome to the Greil Mercenaries" "Train me!" "A war has started!" "Where are you brother?"   I stink at summaries so read the story before judgeing! RRR!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Hey guys this is my first fanfic so please don't be too harsh! Please RRR. Hope you guys read it and like it and without further ado… Here's the story! Ok so I went back and changed the names and I believe its up to chapter 3 that I messed up the names so if you guys see anymore let me know!

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Two Paths

Chapter 1: The Beginning

(Snow POV)

"I'm finally leaving this place. Bye mom. Bye dad." I thought.

I left at the first sign of daybreak. I took 20,000 gold with me and wrote a note.

It said: "I'm sorry for leaving so early and without saying anything. I couldn't take you two grieving, crying, or yelling at each other or me anymore over my brother. You guys did as much as you could for me before brother left so now I won't come back until I find him. Until then, goodbye. Your daughter, Snow."

What I wrote wasn't a lie. I did appreciate what they did for me but I couldn't take their grieving for another second. It saddens me to see my parents lose their sanity over my brother leaving. That's why I made a resolve on the day my bro left.

(Flashback)

"Yaaaaaaaawn, what a beautiful day. I think I'll ask bro to teach me more on how to use knives." I thought.

"Snooooooooowww! Get down here now!" Dad and mom called from downstairs.

"Coming!" I called back. "I wonder what dad and mom wants?" I found them in the dining room.

"What is it dad, mom?" I asked.

"Here, your brother left you this note and he left us this one it said to read both at the same time." Dad said. Dad, mom, and I read the notes at the same time.

Mom and dad notes read:

"Goodbye mom, dad. Thanks for everything. I'm sorry I left without telling you. I won't come back for a while. Your son, Ian."

My note read:

"Hey sis. If your reading this I'm long gone from home. Come and find me when you're stronger. Otherwise don't come and find me at all. By the way I have your birthday present under my bed. I will miss it but there's your present. Your bro, Ian."

"How could he leave?" I thought angrily. "He said he'll teach me how to use kunoichi blades after I learn how to use knives better." "This has to be some kind of joke!" I said when I saw mom cry.

"How can this be a joke? Our son left and it's all your fault!" Dad yelled at me.

"Why would it be my fault?" I yelled angrily.

Mom answered saying "You always ask him for help on homework! Do you know how annoying it would be for him?"

At these accusations I started to cry. "Do you think I don't want bro here? It's both of your faults that he left. You two are always at work and never at home! You two are the reason I have to ask him for help on my homework because you two won't help me!" I yelled in their faces. Immediately I regretted what I said. The shocked look on their faces hurt me but I knew I couldn't take back what I said.

"Go to your room," they said in unison.

"Why should I? It's not my fau-" I tried to say.

"GO!" they said in unison.

I obeyed them reluctantly for all they knew. I actually went to bro's room. I went under his bed like the note said and found my birthday present that was supposed to be given to me a week later. I took the box out and brought it to my room.

(A week later)

"Happy Birthday," mom and dad said together. "Here are your presents." They gave it to me in the kitchen.

"Thanks," I reply.

I opened it to find a fire tome and a Mage outfit.

"Why a fire tome and Mage outfit?" I ask them but my question was not answered.

"We're going to be out late tonight so don't wait up." mom and dad said as they walked out the door.

"This is the worst birthday ever. Mom and dad don't even care." I thought glumly. Suddenly, I remembered brother's gift I hid underneath my bed. I ran to my bedroom and opened it. Inside it were kunoichi blades. There was a note too.

It read: "Hey sis. I knew you would open this on your birthday. Here are your kunoichi blades like you wanted. Happy Birthday."

I started to well up. "I miss him..."I thought miserably. "I will find you. No matter what!" I thought determinedly.

(End of Flashback)

I felt sad to leave home. I knew I had to though. This was one promise I couldn't break. I have everything I knew I would need. I have clothes, food, money, and water. I also have the fire tome and kunoichi blades bro and dad gave me. I placed the blades in the belt I got from grandpa. I placed the fire tome in my backpack with the rest of my supplies. I got a first-aid kit from grandma so that was in with the rest of my supplies.

I looked strange because I was wearing my Mage outfit with my blades on either side of me. The outfit was red on top and purple on the bottom. The top was long sleeved and the bottom revealed my left leg. I braided my hair to compliment my outfit. With that being said I was ready to leave.

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There the first chapter is done. So do you guys like it? Please RRR and I'm having some hard time with pairings so if you guys want you could submit some pairings! The next chapter should be up so continue on. Until next time.


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey for Power

Hey guys the first two chapters were fillers so on the third chapter the main characters will be showing up! For now here's the story!

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Chapter 2: The Journey for Power

(Ian POV)

"I've been traveling for 3 years. Fending off bandits when they came to me or fighting them for money. I have been thinking of returning home but I don't really feel like going back yet. It's hard to believe I'm 13 and sis is 10. I can't believe how weak those bandits are. Maybe I should..." that thought was never finished because he ended up stumbling upon a battle between a man and 5 bandits. He watched how swift the man finishes the bandits off and was in awe. The man has green hair and wears a colorful outfit that looks kind of like a yukata. He went to talk to the man.

"Hey your pretty good," I said nonchalantly.

"Hm? Oh, thanks, kid." the man said.

Instantly, I got irked. "What did you call me, old man?"

"Well, little boy, I'm only 31." the man said smiling.

"Wow that old already? Sucks for you." I said smirking.

"Its better to be old than a snot-nosed brat." he said venom in his voice.

"You mean better young than old." I said humor tinted in my voice.

"This "old man" can easily beat you in a sword fight," anger finally bursting through the man.

"Fine old man your on." I said.

The fight began and ended just as quickly as it began.

"I lost?" I thought. "There's no way. I lost. I was able to defeat bandits easily and I only became a myrmidon 3 years ago. Even then I was able to defeat bandits easily. Who is this guy?" "Hm you are good, what's your name?" I asked.

"Stefan. I told you I'm not old." Stefan said smiling.

"Whatever. Anyway take me on as a student will you? You're obviously a swords master and your good." I said.

"No way. That's too much trouble." Stefan said and began to leave.

"You know, I'm just going to follow you around until you agree," I said matter-of-factly.

(Stefan POV)

"This kid sure is annoying me. First he calls me an old man, then mocks my age, and now wants me to train him. What the hell is wrong with him?" Stefan thinks. "The look in his eyes does show his determination."

"Sigh, fine you're my student but if you even try to give up I'll quit on you immediately." Stefan said.

"Ok no problem." I said. Unknowingly I had no idea about what I was in for...

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There that's done. You guys probably figured out who Ian is at this point right? Please RRR. Until next time.


	3. Chapter 3: The Search

There chapter 3 is done here are the main characters. And now here's the story!

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Chapter 3: The Search

(Snow POV)

"Argh where the hell can he be?" I thought angrily. It's been a week since I left home. I'm tired and pissed. I thought it would be easy to find bro, boy was I wrong. I've been running from bandits during more than half of the days in the week. Right now I'm in a forest trudging through the muddy ground to find another inn to stay in. Suddenly bandits showed up.

"Hey girlie, where do you think your going?" one of the bandits said to me.

"None of your business." I said venom dripping from each word I said.

"Aww don't be that way." another said to me.

"Right," said another bandit.

"Get away from me." I said.

"Now why would I do that." said the 1st bandit.

I quickly took out my kunoichi blades and slashed the bandit that was trying to close in on me. "I warned you." I said.

"You ugly wretch!" the bandit I slashed yelled out.

"Your dead!" all five of the bandits scream out.

"Crud. Five versus one I'm obviously outnumbered. Oh well I'm not going out without a bang though." I thought. "Try and hit me then!" I screamed at them.

(Ike POV)

"What was that scream father?" I asked.

"Hmm. Bandits." Greil thought. "Ike go back to the base." he said.

"Father. What was that scream?" I asked again.

"Arggh!" a female scream could be heard from the forest again.

"Father what was that scream?" I asked.

"Ike go back now!" Greil said. Greil started running toward the sound of the scream. Ike followed closely behind Greil.

(Snow POV)

"Man that hurt!" I thought while holding my left arm. "I was able to dodge a lot of these guys blows but this guy is a lot better than those other four guys." "I was able to knock out two of them easily but now I'm injured pretty badly." "Tsk. This guy must be the boss. With him around, it's hard to knock out those other two guys... I won't kill though, I still can't, so I guess it's the end of me." I thought glumly.

Suddenly the two guys I knocked out woke up. "Oh great, as if I didn't have enough problems right now." I thought. "I won't give up though. I won't, no, I can't! Not without a fight."

Suddenly a man with an axe comes out of the trees. "Waaaaaarghhhh," the man said and chopped down two guys.

"Who-who is he?" a bandit said.

"Who knows! Let's get outta here though." another bandit said.

The two named bandits ran away leaving their boss on his own.

"Cowards! I'll kill you two later. Your first you ugly giant." the bandit boss said.

"As if," the man said.

The man easily won and gave the boss a quick but as painless as it could be death. He walked towards me and I held onto my kunoichi blades.

"Put your weapons down I won't hurt you." the man said.

"Who are you? Why did you help me?" I asked.

"I'm Greil of the Greil Mercenaries. I didn't decide to help you because I heard your scream. I helped you cause the bandits were near my family." Greil said.

"Ok," I said slightly relieved. I put my weapons in my belt. "Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it. Guessing from what you said that you're a mercenary how much money do you want?" I asked.

"I don't want your money. You're a kid. I can't take it from you." Greil said.

"I want to repay you though." I said quietly.

"Come with me then. I'll take you back to my home to take care of your wound. Then tell me your reason for fighting as payment for helping you, alright?" Greil asked in an almost gentle tone. "Ike! Come out from behind that tree and help this young lady back to base."

"Hi father. Sorry for disobeying you." a boy with blue eyes and hair said.

"I'll talk to you about it later. Go and help our lady friend back to base. I'm going to clean up these bodies." Greil said.

"Y-you said that you'll bring me back to your base." I said meekly.

"You'll be fine this is my son Ike. Ike this is... actually I don't know your name. What is it?" Greil asked.

"My name is Snow." I said softly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ike." Ike said smiling.

I smiled back at him and he gaped a little bit.

"So you can smile. C'mon let's take you back to our home." Ike said brightly. Ike and I waved back at Greil and Ike said to hurry up and come home soon.

"This is our home." Ike said. I could see it was a beautiful home. It had simple things but I thought it was nice.

"Who's that with you Ike?" a girl with short brown wavy hair asked.

"I know. It must be his girlfriend." said a boy with greenish dark hair wearing a bandana.

"Boyd you idiot. She is not my girlfriend." Ike said stressing a lot.

"Who is she then?" asked Boyd.

"She's-" Ike began.

"What is going on here?" a lady with a long red braid came in interrupting Ike.

"I can see that Boyd is acting like a fool again." said a boy with light-green hair.

"That's not nice to say Rolf," said a taller boy with light-green hair.

"Listen to Oscar twerp." said Boyd.

"Stop it you two," said a man with orange hair wearing a priest outfit.

"Listen to Rhys you brats," said a man with dark red hair.

"Yes, you people shouldn't be yelling in front of a fair maiden." said a man with dark blue heavy armor on.

"What is with you people? You're making it hard for me to concentrate" said a male with dark long hair and a symbol on his forehead.

Everybody kept yelling until Greil came in saying "What is going on?" Quickly, everyone composed themselves. "Titania, explain to me what's going on."

The lady with long red hair came up and gave a thorough report on everyone's behavior. Greil started to laugh, which made everybody scared and confused.

"Commander Greil. What's so funny?" asked Titania.

"Everyone went crazy over a girl who dropped by. It's funny." said Greil. Everyone started to sweat drop. "Anyway, this will be our guest for awhile. Her name is Snow."

"Hello," I said meekly.

Everyone stared at me like I was an alien. "Introduce yourselves," said Greil.

"My name is Titania," said the lady with red hair who recovered first from shock.

"My name is Rhys," said the man in the priest robes.

"The name is Gatrie, fair lady, but I am sure you heard of me before." said the knight in the heavy armor.

"Hmph." said the guy with the red hair in a ponytail.

"Ignore him. His name is Shinon by the way. My name is Mist. Let's be friends." said a smiling girl with wavy brown hair.

"M-my name is Rolf." said the boy with light-green hair.

"My name is Oscar." said the taller boy with light-green hair.

"The name's Boyd." said the boy with the dark green hair and bandana.

"Soren." said the boy with the dark hair and mark on the forehead.

"There that's everyone." said Greil."Now then, Rhys will you heal our guest she is injured."

"Of course." said Rhys." Come in here will you?" he asks with a gentle smile.

"S-sure," I said.

(In the Infirmary)

"Hmm, your wounds aren't that bad. Still don't move your left arm too much." said Rhys while bandaging my left arm.

"Ok." I replied." Thank you."

"Your welcome. C'mon let's go back outside." Rhys said gently.

(Dining Room)

"So you're done with her wounds Rhys?" asked Greil.

"Yes, they weren't that bad. Still what made her get that wound." asked Rhys worriedly.

"Well-" Greil began but I cut him off.

"If your going to tell them what happened I would prefer to tell them myself." I said.

"Alright. Go ahead." Greil said. Everyone turned to listen to me.

"I was in the forest when five bandits came out. They wanted to either rape me or steal money from me. I didn't want to give up without a fight so I slashed the bandit that was trying to close in on me and he screamed and that's when the fight started. The boss bandit was the one who caused this wound. The others weren't able to touch me." I said in one breath.

Everyone was either shocked or amused. They couldn't believe that bandits would stoop so low as to try to rape a little girl or take money from her.

"Snow, where do you live?" Greil asked anger evident in his voice.

"I live in Hanedon Village." I said casually.

"Do your parents know that you're so far away from your home?" asked Greil.

"Yes, I left them a note." I said.

"YOU LEFT THEM A NOTE? THAT'S IT?"Greil asked angrily. It looked to me that everyone was in quite some shock. Shinon was smirking though…

"Yes." I said getting a little scared.

"Why would you leave home?" asked Rhys. Titania is currently trying to calm Greil down.

"To find someone. That's all I will say. Commander Greil I have repaid you by answering your questions. Now then, thank you for taking care of my arm and goodbye." I said while bowing. I got my backpack and was going to walk out the door when Greil said "How old are you?"

I was confused by the question but answered it anyway. "I'm 10."

"Your what? It's dangerous for a 10 year old to be on a journey to find one person! You should be in school!" Greil said in a loud tone. Everyone except me and Greil turned at Gatrie with disgusted looks.

"I didn't know she was 10! I thought she was 16!" Gatrie tried to defend himself. Although, he did it really poorly.

"Disgusting…" Boyd and Ike said in unison. "That's sad." Shinon said amusement was clearly in his voice. "Pervert," Mist said. A disappointed tone was clearly there.

"Ahem," Greil said to grab everyone's attention. "Snow, continue."

"As I was saying, I don't have much of a choice..." I said sadly.

"Why?" Titania asked softly.

"I said I had to find my bro- I mean somebody. I can't go back until I do!" I said.

Everyone could see the determination in my eyes. The silence after I said those few words were awkward but was soon broken when Greil said these few gentle words. "Stay with us then. I can't let a child run off and get herself kill over something I could've stop. You're staying here with us."

"Thank you for your kind offer but I can't accept it. I don't like taking charity. I have to be able to offer something to you people before I can accept your offer." I said sternly.

"Fine. Can you cook?" Greil asked.

"Kinda. Why?" I asked.

"Oscar will teach you how to cook better and when you learn how to cook more easily you will be our chef. That will be your payment. What you will be getting is a roof over your head, food, water, money for being a mercenary, and how to fight better. Alright?" Greil asked.

"That's too kind of an offer I can't accept." I said again.

"My patience is running thin. How about you also have to listen to whatever I say for you to do. Of course on reasonable terms. You will also have to work with the Greil Mercenaries when you learn how to fight better." Greil said.

"Fine. I'll take your offer. Thank you for taking me in." I say while smiling.

"Oh great one more mouth to feed." Shinon said.

"Shut your trap." Titania said. "Welcome to our home." she said warmly.

"Th-thank you." I said softly.

"This is great. I'm so happy your staying. I'll help you with anything you need to know about." said Mist smiling.

"Don't hesitate to ask questions when your confused." said Oscar smiling.

"You're going to be home schooled with Soren, Boyd, and Ike as classmates. You could say they are around your age." said Greil.

"Seriously? Why do I have to be in the same class as Snow and Soren?" asked Boyd.

"BOYD! Don't be do rude to them." said Mist. "Snow he doesn't mean it he's just stupid."

"Its fine I'm used to this attitude from home." I say smiling. "Um. I was wondering... where will my room be?"

"Oh. It's here." said Greil.

"Thank you. If I may I would like to take out some stuff from my backpack and lay them out in the room." I asked.

"Go ahead." said Greil. When I went into the room Boyd and Shinon got hit over the head.

"Owww!" said Boyd and Shinon at the same time. "What was that for?"

"You idiots!" said Mist and Titania. "Do you have to be so rude to Snow?"

"She has to get used to our habits now or she'll never learn." said Boyd.

"Yeah. It's her fault. She shouldn't have even come here." said Shinon bitterly. At that moment I decided to come out.

"Um, I'm sorry if that's how you guys really feel I could just leave. I don't mind." I said softly.

"Urk." said Shinon and Boyd at the same time.

"Snow they are always like this. Don't worry about it. Go back to your room and finish unpacking." said Titania.

"Ok but anytime you guys want me to leave cause I'm trouble I'll leave. Just tell me." I said to them hesitantly. I went back to my room and unpacked. "I should probably leave. I don't want to cause trouble... Maybe after I see if these people really want me here. Wow there's a drawer in here already. I wonder if I should use it. Nah I'll put my clothes on this table. Mom, dad, bro... I miss you guys." Greil calling me to come outside interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed my fire tome and head outside.

"Did you call me?" I asked.

"Yeah. I want you to show me how well you can fight with your blades and is that a fire tome?"

"Ok and yes." I said.

"So you're a Mage?" Greil asked.

"Yes and no. My dad got me the fire tome."

"Well then, can you use it?" Greil asked.

"I don't know. I never tried." I said.

"Why don't you try?" asked Greil.

"Ok." I said. I held onto the fire tome and calmed my mind. I chanted the spell and when I felt ready I opened my eyes and held my hand up and whispered "fire". Suddenly, fire came out of thin air and hit the ground. "I-I did it...I did it!" I yelled out.

"Good job. I'm shocked you were able to do it for the first time." said Greil.

"Nice," said Boyd.

"Sweet," said Ike.

"When did you three come out here?" I asked slightly embarrassed.

"We came out when you closed your eyes," said Soren.

"Oh," I said while I blushed a bit.

"Ahem. Now then, show me how well you can fight with those blades." said Greil.

"You want me to try to kill you with my blades?" I asked worriedly.

"Something like that. Just come at me. I won't hurt you so don't worry." said Greil.

"What if I hurt you though?" I asked.

"Hah! Yeah right. You won't be able to scratch him." said Boyd.

"Boyd. Shut up. Snow, don't worry. I promise you won't be able to hurt me ok?" Greil said.

"O-ok." I said softly. "Here I come."

"Go for it." said Greil.

The fight lasted quite some time until...

"Hm. She's pretty good," thought Greil. "Its time I whip it up a notch."

"Harrrrrgh." He yelled and slashed wildly at me.

"Tsk. He's using more power now. I guess it's time for me to whip it up a notch too." I thought.

"Harrrrrgh." I yelled out loud. Just as I dodged his axe blow I spun around him and held one of my blades to his neck.

"Hm. That's enough for today." said Greil. "Snow, good job you did well but why didn't you slash me? There were plenty of chances that I left so you could kill me."

"I know but I don't want to hurt you for practice. There's no point in that." I said nonchalantly.

"Ha ha ha ha. You're too kind. You can't be like that in a battle. You have to act like how you acted against those bandits." said Greil.

"I know but I have to tell you something. I can't kill. I can barely hurt other people. Against those bandits I tried to knock them out but it didn't work out. I'm sorry but I can barely fight." I said slowly. I felt like crying but I held my tears in.

"Hmm that is a problem. I'll teach you how to fight as best as I can so don't worry." He said gently.

"Thank you." I say softly.

"Your pretty good. Although not as good as me." said Boyd matter-of-factly.

"What are you talking about? She's way better than you." said Ike smirking.

"She's better than you too." said Boyd pouting.

"I never said she wasn't." said Ike. "Soon though I'll catch up." "Hey Soren. She can use fire and you can use wind right?"

"Yeah. So what?" asked Soren.

"Why don't you two train together?" said Ike.

"That's not a bad idea Ike." said Greil. "Soren. For now I want you and Snow to spar against each other."

"What? But-" said Soren.

"If Soren doesn't want to I don't want to bother him." I said.

"What am I doing? It doesn't matter who I spar with. I'm acting like a kid right now." Soren thinks. "I'm fine with it."

"Are you sure? I don't want to bother you." I said.

"Yeah it's fine." Soren replied nonchalantly.

"Great it's decided then. Soren and Snow will be sparring from now until I say so." Greil said.

"Snooowww. Can I get you in the kitchen?" asked Oscar.

"Um," I said staring at Greil.

"Go ahead. You don't have to ask for my permission for everything. Do what you want when it is under reasonable circumstances." said Greil.

"Ok! Cooooommmmmiiiinnnnggg!" I said while hurrying to the kitchen.

(Kitchen)

"Yes Oscar?" I asked shyly.

"Hello Snow. I thought we could begin your first cooking lesson today." Oscar said.

"Ok. What are we going to be making?" I asked.

"How about you boil some water?" Oscar said.

"O-ok." I said. I took the kettle and put it under the spray of the water from the sink. Then I put it on the stove and turned a dial. I waited until I heard a beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep then turned off the stove and took the kettle off of the stove.

"There hot water." I said.

"Good. Now pour the water into these cups and put in these tea leaves." said Oscar while chopping some onions.

"Ok." I said I put some tealeaves that Oscar took out of the cupboard and put them on the now full of water cups.

"Good. Now help me finish cutting these onions while I cut the mushrooms." said Oscar.

"Got it. Um, we're making Paella right?" I asked.

He looked shocked but started to answer my question "Yes. How did you know?"

"I had a feeling." I said smiling. "Should I put in rice in the rice cooker?"

"Yes." said Oscar.

"Ok." I replied. After that we kept a comfortable silence.

(Dinner)

"Mmm." said Boyd. "This is so good!"

"He's right you've outdone yourself Oscar." Greil said.

"I didn't do it on my own. Snow helped me." Oscar replied while smiling at me. I sank back in my chair.

"When you eat with friends and family food tastes that much better." I said softly.

"Your right!" said Mist. "That's why food always taste so good. We have a new friend with us. That's why it tastes so much better."

"Yeah," I said smiling brightly.

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It's done now. The real beginning starts on Chapter 4: The Journey Begins! So I'll update soon. Please RRR.


	4. Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

Chapter 4 :The Journey Begins

(Snow POV)

(5 years later)

"Are you ready yet Snow?" asked Soren.

"Yeah. Let's go." I said happily.

"We'll see you two later then." said Greil.

"Mmhm. Bye." I said.

"Bye." Soren said.

"How long will it take for us to reach the Crimean Royal Library?" I asked.

"About two weeks." Soren replied.

"Ok," I said. For the rest of the traveling to the Crimean Royal Library was in comfortable silence.

(Two Weeks Later)

"Ahhh. We're finally here!" I say to Soren. "The library is huuuuuuuge!"

"Yeah." he said. We spent about all of our time at the library. At the second to last week of our trip on Tuesday Soren was looking at a book with a picture of a mark really intently.

"Whats up Soren?" I asked. I looked over his shoulder and saw the mark on his forehead in the book. It read: this is the sign of the Branded... I couldn't read any more cause Soren slammed the book close.

"N-not much. We should go back to the inn. It's getting kinda late." Soren replied.

"Y-yeah. Let's go ba-" I couldn't finish cause we then heard a loud noise. We rushed outside and saw soldiers slaughtering villagers. "This is terrible! We have to help these people."

"Snow we can't. We'll get ourselves slaughter and then what will we do? The best thing we can do right now is to go back to the base and inform Commander Greil." Soren replied.

"No! We have to help these people. It won't be right to leave them when they could be saved!" I told Soren.

"Snow, once we take care of a villager. The Daein soldiers will stab us from the back." said Soren angrily. "If we wait any longer we'll get killed. You yourself know that."

I saw the people around me get slaughter by Daein soldiers. I started to cry. "...Fine. Let's go."

We started running towards the forest. We reached the forest in an hour since we ran. We decided to rest for a bit before running again. "Snow are you ok?" Soren asked, worry was evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry I just don't want to talk right now." I started to reminisce what happened today. Thinking of what happened tears started to form again.

"Sob, sniff" I softly wept. I couldn't believe it. I left people who needed me. People who I could've saved.

"Snow, it's not your fault. Stop crying. This was the best thing we could've done for those people. We now have a job to report what happened to Commander Greil." Soren said in an almost gentle tone.

"Your right. Let's go. I don't have time to be crying. Let's hurry back." I said. We reached the base in one week. We gave a report as soon as we found Commander Greil.

"The people of Crimea were slaughtered by Daein soldiers. It was terrible. We couldn't do anything." I said, too tired to cry.

"The war has started between Crimea and Daein huh?" Titania asked.

"Yes." Soren and I both replied back.

"Hmm. Well Soren and Snow I want you two to go with Titania, Ike, Shinon, and Gatrie to inspect the damage in Crimea." said Greil.

"Snow doesn't need to go. She should be tired from the travel back." said Soren.

"Soren, thanks for trying to let me rest but I have to go. I want to go. Commander Greil I'll be fine, I promise." I said confidently.

"Alright. Everyone will follow Titania's orders. Now then go." Greil ordered out.

(Crimean Border)

"There are so many bodies! Not all of them are Crimean citizens either. Some of them are Daein soldiers." exclaimed Titania.

"There's so much blood..." I say softly.

"Snow..." Titania said but was cut off.

"Grow some backbone. You were bound to see blood some time in your life. Get over it." Shinon stated coldly.

"Shinon! You shouldn't say that. It's terrible to see blood at this..." said Titania.

"Its ok. It's-Shinon's right." I say.

"Hmm. We should probably go-" Soren said but was interrupted.

"Who goes there?" said a tall Daein soldier.

"We were just passing by." said Titania.

"They hold weapons! They must be Crimean reinforcements! Attack, men, attack!" said the Daein soldier.

"Tsk. Looks like were gonna have to fight. Move out." said Titania in a booming voice.

(Fighting Scene)

"Wind," called Soren slicing an opponent in half.

"Ha! You're no match for us!" said Gatrie in a loud voice.

"Hiyaaa!" said Titania as she cut down a soldier with her axe.

I stood at the sidelines with Rhys. My job was to protect him but really, I knew that Titania really wanted to keep me out of harms way. She knew I couldn't fight-no that I would not kill She knew that on a battlefield, indecision will be your death.

"Snow. Snap out of it!" Rhys yelled to me.

"Hm?" I asked when I suddenly noticed a Daein soldier going to cut me in half if it wasn't for Rhys's warning.

"Thanks Rhys." I say as I hit the soldier on the neck with my hand. Effectively enough, the soldier fell asleep.

"Urk!" The Daein soldier who I suppose is the boss hit me with his javelin. It pierced me in the leg and I let out a loud-pitched screech. I retaliated as quickly as I could and used my fire spell. I hit him in the leg and he screamed out in pain.

"Wind!" Soren said and finished the boss off.

"Heal." Rhys whispered and healed my leg.

"Thanks Rhys." I said. Tears were still at my eyes as I slowly rubbed them away.

Rhys heals everybody else that was injured and we decided to head back to base. We heard a groan and went into the forest. We saw a beautiful green-haired lady wearing an orange dress.

"It looks like she fainted" I say.

"Hmm. It doesn't look like she's injured." Rhys inspects.

"Lets bring her back to base" said Ike. Everyone agreed even though some were reluctant...


	5. Chapter 5: Past Revealed

Hey guys. I'm back! This time I wrote a really long chapter because I got my first review! I'm so happy about getting it! This time I went into someone's past and well find out for yourselves! Also, you guys may have noticed that I accidentally used the name "Jenny" to refer to "Snow", well that's because I'm writing another story in which the character's name is Jenny and I forgot and mixed up those two characters by accident. Anyways, Sorry about the mix up! I'll definitely try to make sure I don't mix those two's name again. I would like to also thank Okiri Maelstorm for telling me about that little mix up. Also, if I get enough reviews for this story, I might post up my new story on Fanfiction too!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem (even though I really wish I did). Also I used the lines from the game itself this time around. Of course I used my own dialogue too. I do not own the characters in Fire Emblem except for characters like Snow.

Now then, without further ado... Here's the story!

* * *

Chapter5: Past Revealed

(Snow POV)

"Ngh," the green-haired woman said as she woke up. "Huh? W-where am I?"

"Don't worry your safe here," Titania told the lady. "What were you doing in the forest alone?"

"Titania, she just got here and she must be scared to be taken in by strangers." I told her.

The lady shook her head and smiled warmly at us."I'm fine. Thank you for taking care of me."

"Snow, stay here with her. I'll go get Greil and the others." Titania told me quietly. After Titania got out of the room the lady started asking me questions.

"So where am I? Why did you people take care of me? Who are you people?" she asked suspiciously. I could only guess she was scared, I mean I knew how she felt with my past and all.

"It's alright you're in our base. We're the Greil Mercenaries. We took care of you because you fainted, you were alone, you're a woman, and our commander told us to." I told her when I saw the confusion in her eyes. "Don't worry we won't hurt you." And as I said that Greil, Ike, Soren, Titania, Rhys, Shinon, Gatrie, and Mist rushed in. Boyd, Oscar, Shinon, and Gatrie were out on a mission as of now.

"So you're awake." Greil said stating the obvious. The woman nodded her head as response. " So do you mind telling us why you were in that forest?"

"I was running from the soldiers." The lady responded. "I'm-my name is Elincia Ridell Crimea." Everyone was gaping. There was no way that she could be-

"You are you saying that you are the heir to the throne of Crimea?" Titania asked demandingly.

"Yes. I am the daughter of Ramon Crimea." Elincia told us.

"That's impossible!" Soren told us loudly. "King Ramon had no child!"

"Yes, that is what my father told the world… I know it is hard to believe but I am the daughter of Ramon Crimea! I was hidden from the world as to not cause an uproar. I was born after my uncle-Lord Renning was named as heir to the throne." Elincia told us with a strong resolve in her voice.

"I see so they kept you as a secret to avoid a possible blood feud." Greil said contemptively.

"I believe her too." I told them at the same time Ike did. We looked at each other and laughed. Everyone looked at us strangely but ignored it.

"Why do you believe her?" Soren asked questioningly. Everyone expected an answer from us but I wanted to hear what Ike had to say first so I kept quiet as I looked at Ike smiling.

Ike flinched and started sweating under all the eyes that were looking at him expectantly. "Um, well, I can trust her because well," and Ike stopped there.

I sighed and started up what Ike was trying to say. "I think Ike meant that if you look in Princess Elincia's eyes you can see that there isn't a hint of lies in them. She is telling the truth and I believe her." I finished smiling at Elincia. "Right, Princess?" Princess Elincia nodded her head smiling like a child.

"I'm so glad someone believes me," Elincia thought happily.

"Princess Elincia could you tell us what happened to your uncle and the king? I mean you must know what happened." Greil asked curiously.

"…My father and my mother re dead… They fell at the handoff Ashnard. King of Daein…" Elincia said with a small whisper. "My lord uncle and the royal knights are still battling the Daein army. I believe."

"I see." Greil said in a gruff tone. Obviously, he seemed ready to kill anything in his way. Everyone backed away a bit.

"…I…fled the castle…to follow my lord uncle's orders and seek refuge in the kingdom of Gallia…" Elincia said while swallowing a lump in her throat. She looked like she was ready to cry but held it in.

"In Gallia?" Greil asked surprised.

"…Yes. We believed that King Caineghis would grant me sanctuary. So that's where I was going…" Elincia said in a robotic voice. "But we were discovered by Daein troops, and I lost my escort of knights…" Elincia continued her sentence but her voice cracked when she said her next few words. "My life- -the life I have now- - was purchased… with the blood of those brave knights…"

"Does King Daein know of your existence?" Ike asked cautiously as Princess Crimea's eyes were watering.

"Yes. I was told the royals of each nation were informed of my identity in the event of dire circumstances…" Elincia told us quietly. Everyone looked at her with pity in their eyes.

"If that's the case, they must be searching frantically for you." Greil said in the softest tone I've ever heard him use.

"Um, Master Greil, my lord Ike, Lady Snow, you said that you were mercenaries, did you not?" Elincia asked us shyly. We nodded our heads. "Please… Would you help me to gain Gallia?" Everyone went quiet. "I beg of you! I have… no one… no one else to turn to."

"Soren, Titania, what do you guys think?" Greil asked while deep in thought himself.

"I say to reject the quest. It has high risk without a real confirmation on pay. Also, we will be siding with Crimea, which will make us a target for Daein soldiers to attack us. As of now, we know that Daein has more soldiers and supplies than Crimea does. If we side with Crimea its just suicide." Soren says bluntly. I looked at Soren in shock.

"Soren, you know what Daein did to those innocent Crimean's. They slaughtered them without a thought! How could you side with them? Not to mention when those soldiers attacked us without reason because they thought we were Crimean reinforcement makes it our problem! They tried to murder us and already murdered countless innocents! Don't you get it?" I yelled at Soren angrily. Everyone looked at me in shock. I felt a warm liquid roll down my face as I realized I was crying. I wiped my tears away as I mumbled a quiet apology.

"I agree with Snow. If a war is seriously starting we should take Crimea's side as the Daeins killed countless innocents already. Plus, with a war coming up we wouldn't be able to get much jobs considering everyone will be hiding." Titania said confidently.

"I have to disagree. With a war coming up there will be more jobs than ever. Nobody will want to be out alone cause they are scared." Soren said simply.

"Alright enough. I've decided. We'll take the quest. It seems to have enough benefits and we are escorting her to the castle not actually fighting in the war so it'll be fine." Greil told us confidently. "We can handle it." "I cant shake this bad feeling though," Greil thought ominously.

"Thank you," Elincia said appreciatively. There was an awkward silence until Elincia asked us a question. "I was wondering what your names were."

"Oh, well, I'm Greil, this is Titania my second in command, Soren and Snow as my co-tacticians, Rhys my healer, Shinon as my expert Sniper, Gatrie my tank, and my daughter and son Mist and Ike." Greil said introducing us.

"My lord Greil… You are the one who came to my aid are you not? I don't know how to thank you." Elincia said in a grateful tone.

"Actually my son, Ike was the one who saved you. Thank him, not me." Greil said simply.

"Thank you my lord Ike." Elincia said with such a sweet tone it was embarrassing for the rest of us to be there. Ike blushed and muttered a quiet 'You're welcome'. Greil coughed into his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Well then, we'll escort Princess Crimea tomorrow. We should rest up tonight." Everyone nodded as we went to do our tasks. Just then Boyd and Oscar called saying they were home.

"Oscar, Boyd! Welcome back!" I say running up and hugging them.

"Snow you're back early! What's up?" Oscar asked while hugging me back. I hugged Boyd and then told them the story. The expressions on their face was grim.

"That's terrible," Oscar said frowning.

"Yeah. Hm, so are we all leaving tomorrow?" Boyd asked curiously.

"I don't know. Ask Commander Greil. C'mon Oscar lets make dinner." I told them.

"I can handle it on my own. Why don't you go talk with Princess Crimea?" Oscar told me. I smiled and nodded. Oscar could usually tell what I wanted to do even when I don't say it out loud. I knocked on Elincia's door and when I heard a 'Come in.' I went in.

"Hi. I thought you might want to talk." I told her timidly. Elincia looked shocked to see me but quickly turned it into a smile.

"Hello Lady Snow. I would love to chat for a bit." Elincia said simply. I smiled and we started to talk about what happened to her and her past.

"So did Sir Geoffrey, Lady Lucia, and Sir Bastian ever tried to take you out of the castle?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, but it never worked out cause we were always caught." Elincia said smiling. "Anyway enough about me, what about you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked honestly confused.

"I meant, do you have any siblings of sorts?" Elincia asked.

"Yes, I have a older brother." I say smiling. "He was a complicated person to begin with."

"What do you mean?" Elincia asked confused.

"I mean he's difficult to understand. Let's just leave it at that." I told her quickly. There was an awkward silence until Oscar knocked on the door telling us dinner was done. I sighed relieved at the news and pulled Elincia with me to the table. Everyone was at the table except for Soren.

"Where's Soren?" I asked worriedly.

"He's pouting in his room right now," Greil said simply.

"I'll go get him." I said sighing. "Ike I'll probably need back up. Come on." Ike nodded and went with me.

"Why would Sir Soren be pouting?" Elincia asked innocently.

"He didn't exactly want us to take this job," Greil said simply.

"I have to agree with the brat though." Shinon told us. "Oh well too late to change our mind now anyway." Elincia looked kind of sad.

"Shinon, that is no way to speak in front of a lady! I apologize for my friend's behavior." Gatrie said in a flirtatious tone.

"It's alright." Elincia said in an assuring tone. Suddenly, a loud crash could be heard.

"Soren let's go! It's time for dinner!" I said dragging him down the stairs.

"No. I have to work on my wind spells!" Soren said while digging his nails into the floorboards.

"Ike help me!" I told Ike while he walked down the steps after us.

"How?" He asked confused.

"Grab Soren's arms." I told him simply. Ike did as I told him and we were able to get him on the chair in one piece. "Eat and then you can go." Soren glared at me but muttered a 'fine'. I was completely unfazed by his glare as I was used to it from when we practice our magic. We started our dinner after everyone was done staring at Soren and me. Mostly, the Greil Mercenaries were surprised by Soren's quicker compliance cause it usually took an hour or so. Elincia was surprised by the fact Snow had to drag Soren down the stairs to eat dinner.

"Mmmm. This is delicious. Sir Oscar, this is a very well made dinner." Elincia complimented Oscar approvingly.

"Thank you Princess Elincia." Oscar said smiling.

"Hey I helped!" Boyd said wanting to get some attention.

"I wouldn't call coming in to grab some milk for yourself and then Oscar saying he needed some carrots and you grabbing them for him "helping"." Ike said smirking. Boyd blushed and muttered 'jerk' under his breath. Everyone but the Princess sighed and dinner was finished in an awkward silence. Everyone went to their rooms afterwards for the long journey ahead of them. Little did they know what was going to happen to them that night.

(Hour after dinner. After dishes were washed and cleared.)

"So she is truly the Princess of Crimea." Titania said simply.

"We're not 100% but father believed her and so did Snow."

"I know…" Titania said so quietly Ike had to strain his ears to hear it.

"What is it Titania?" Ike asked worriedly but he was more curious than anything.

"Mm, it's nothing. I was just remembering something from the past." Titania said with a distant look on her face.

"From the past? Back when you were still a Crimean royal knight?" Ike asked curiosity overwhelming him. "Oops."

"What? How did you know about that?" Titania asked demandingly.

"A long time ago. I overheard Shinon and some others talking about it." Ike told her honestly.

"Aha. I was right!" I said by accident.

"What the? Snow? What are you doing here?" Titania asked shocked.

"I was passing by and overheard you guys by accident. So you were saying?" I asked Titania.

"Well I was going to say they keep such loose tongues." Titania said smirking. Well so much for concealing it.

"Was it a secret?" I asked confused. It looked like Titania was trying to hide it.

"No, it wasn't but… Much like I have more experience than you two, I also have many more things to worry about." Titania said frowning. She looked so far away at that moment.

"Like Princess Crimea?" Ike asked oblivious to Titania's feelings.

"Well… yes. I myself was unaware of the princess's existence, but…" Titania explained but then trailed off, lost in thought. She got a hold of herself and started her thought again. "Now that I think about it, she does bear a striking resemblance to both the king and queen."

"So she probably is the true princess. I wonder what father will do. Will he seriously take on her request? I mean it's so dangerous…" Ike said in deep thought.

"Well Commander Greil did say that we would escort Princess Crimea so that's what we will do first." I told him cheerfully. "I mean he already agreed. I doubt Commander will back out now." All three of us were deep in thought when Rolf suddenly went up to us.

"What's up Rolf?" I asked smiling. Rolf was panting pretty heavily and finally uttered out "We've got trouble! Outside! There are soldiers! A lot of them!"

"What?" Ike and I say at the same time. All four of us rushed to find everybody else. I woke up Boyd and then rushed to find Oscar. I found Oscar in the library and told him the situation. Boyd went in at that moment and was really angry with me for waking him up until Oscar and I told him the situation. Ike told Soren the situation and rushed to find Mist to stay out of the battle. Rolf found Shinon and Gatrie drinking in the kitchen and told them the situation. Titania rushed to tell Greil about the commotion outside. Apparently, Greil already knew and called everyone to the living room. Including Rhys and excluding Princess Elincia. Greil excluded Princess Elincia cause he knew she would be uncomfortable with the question he was going to ask the Greil Mercenaries.

(Living Room)

"Is everyone here?" Greil asked firmly.

"Yes." Titania answered him.

"Commander, what are the Daein dogs saying?" Shinon asked annoyed that he had to stop drinking right after he poured his first glass.

""Turn over Princess Crimea and leave the area immediately. Comply now, or we will attack." Pretty straightforward." Greil said complying the message to us.

"What are we going to do?" Gatrie asked, waiting for orders.

"That's what we're here to decide. One thing has been made clear by the arrival of our friends outside." Greil said smirking. "I still can't shake this bad feeling" Greil thought ominously once again.

"So, I would say this confirms her identity as Princess Crimea, wouldn't you?" I asked Greil.

"Yes, but what do we do now? I'd like to hear the opinion of everyone here." Greil explained to us. "Titania, I'd like to hear from you first." Titania stepped up from the group to voice her opinion.

"The blame for this war rests on Daein. If we ally ourselves with them, the company's reputation will surely suffer." Titania said simply. "Conversely, if we deliver Princess Crimea safely, our stock will rise in the eyes of our primary employers. Our road is clear."

"Soren, how about you?" Greil asked after listening to Titania's speech.

"There's nothing to think about. We must deliver the princess to Daein immediately." Soren said in a somewhat robotic voice.

"Even if Crimea is in the right?" I whispered softly. Anger was clearly evident in my voice. I swear I saw everyone flinch.

"We are mercenaries. Our actions dictated only by self-interest." Soren said simply. I was quivering in anger at this point. "If we want to ensure our future, we need Daein in our debt. They will win this war, after all, and nothing else serves us better."

"Shinon? Gatrie?" Greil asked the two standing in front of Mist and Rolf. I held onto my anger although it was close to tipping.

"Soren's a pompous, superior whelp, but he's got the right idea." Shinon said simply. I bit my lip in anger as to not yell out my anger at them. "Besides, the destination's Gallia, so it's a moot question." Shinon took in a breath and began again. "I don't care how much we get paid; there's no way under the sun I'm going to stinking beast country."

"Princess Elincia… She does possess certain regal beauty… There's a lot to be said for that, you know. However, I do prefer country girls… A bit cuter, and not quite so standoffish… Oh! Forget I said that." Gatrie said as he popped the bubble of his daydream. Almost everyone was thinking 'pervert'. Gatrie continued to say "Whatever you decide is good for me. Yep, uh-huh, yep…" and he went back to daydreaming.

"Oscar, Boyd, what about the two of you?" Greil asked while sighing.

"I agree with Captain Titania. If we turn the princess over to the Daein army, we're essentially giving them permission to kill her." Oscar said simply.

"I'm in favor of helping her. That's what heroes are supposed to do." Boyd said while trying to strike a heroic pose.

"Well, Rhys? What's your opinion?" Greil asked, knowing what the answer will be.

"I believe… that none of this hinges on whether she's a princess or not. Refusing to aid someone in need is not something we should ever do. That's what I think." Rhys said, using a warm tone of voice. Suddenly, Rolf spoke up.

"That's right! Let's help her!" Rolf said enthusiastically. Mist followed Rolf's lead and said "Please! We have to help her!"

"What do you think Snow?" Greil asked knowing what my answer will be for sure.

"I think we should help Princess Elincia. We already accepted the job to escort her to Gallia and I intend to make ends meet." I said smiling.

"Alright, and what about you Ike?" Greil asked his son finally.

"I agree with Titania. I say we help her and take her to Gallia." Ike said with a firm resolve.

"I see. I think I know where you all stand. …" Greil said but is now lost deep in thought. Suddenly Greil spoke up and said, "Well then, here's my decision. We escort the princess to Gallia."

"…" Soren kept quiet about his thoughts.

"…Tsk." Shinon said, irritated at the Commander's decision. Everyone went to grab their weapons except for Rolf, Mist, Ike and Greil. Rolf and Mist went to keep Princess Elincia company.

"…Are you sure that's for the best, Father?" Ike asked worriedly.

"Yes. Besides, I think the choice has been taken out of our hands." Greil said simply.

"What?" Ike asked confused. Suddenly everyone rushed back into the living room. Everybody was geared up and ready.

"Open your ears and listen. Listen! All of you." Greil told us. Everyone understood immediately except for Boyd and Gatrie.

"Huh? …What is it?" Boyd asked oblivious.

"Uh… I don't hear a thing…" Gatrie told us obviously.

"Idiot! That's the problem." Shinon said and tried to continue but I cut him off.

"Don't you think that's a bit odd? Complete silence, in all four directions." I thought trying to realize why it's like this.

"Oh, so that's what you're talking about!" Gatrie said dumbly.

"Not only are the animals quiet, but the bugs are silent, too. And that is unnatural beyond belief. Which means…" Oscar said trailing off. Suddenly it all clicked.

"We're surrounded." I say simply. All eyes turned on me. "The soldiers aren't waiting for an answer. They already decided to attack."

"It would appear they had no intention of keeping their side of the proposed bargain." Titania said angrily.

"They were planning on lulling us into a false sense of security and destroying every one of us.." Soren said highly annoyed for only figuring it out now.

"Probably so. But the deal is, we're not so naïve or inexperienced as to fall for their trap. Everyone, take your positions! We're going to settle this right now!" Greil ordered out.

(Battlefield)

"I'll go and hold the rear entrance. Ike! You're in command here! Don't let the enemy take the front." Greil told us.

"…Got it! Be careful, Commander!" Ike said in a firm tone befitting a Commander.

"Hah. I'll give it a shot." Greil said with a smirk and with that Greil ran out to the back entrance.

"I hope Commander Greil will be alright." I say worriedly.

"He'll be fine. He's a one man tank." Boyd said smirking. "C'mon let's hear the plan."

**On The Other Side**

"Reporting in, sir! The mercenaries have taken up arms and formed up in the bailey!" a random soldier told the leader.

"Oh…so they've sniffed out our plan, have they?" the general called 'Dakova' said in a gruff voice. "Which means they're not an opponent easily fooled. We'll need something special."

"Shall we continue with the planned attack?" the soldier asked awaiting the orders.

"No… Princess Crimea is somewhere within that fort. If we use flaming arrows to try to smoke them out, we might bring the princess to harm." Dakova said in deep thought "We've been told to do our best to deliver her alive and uninjured. It would be preferable if they were to come out of their own accord. If they do, slay all but the princess!"

"Yes, sir!" the soldier answered accordingly.

**Back On Our Side**

"Ok, Soren and I have decided to divide our group. Shinon, Boyd, and Oscar will come with me to the right. Gatrie, Ike, and Titania will go with Soren to the left. Rhys you stay in the middle to heal anybody that gets injured. No matter what, don't let the enemy get through our defenses. They cannot get into the base, or even near the door. Got it?" I asked them. I received nods of 'ok'. "Great, Ike on your call we break."

"Right." Ike said and then cleared his voice. "Greil Mercenaries, Move out!" Everyone broke into their groups and ran off to their appropriate sides.

Boyd and Oscar were struggling quite a bit but Shinon managed to finish the opponents they weren't able to. One opponent were about to stab Boyd in the back but I chanted my fire spell to hit him in the heart. Burning his body to a crisp. I bit my lip and swallowed hard around the lump in my throat, "I killed somebody. My first kill…". While I was deep in thought, an archer shot me and it pierced my arm. I gritted my teeth and chanted my fire spell as quickly as I could and hit him in the chest and he died instantly. Boyd thanked me for the help and asked if I was 'ok'. I nodded my head 'yes' as I pulled the arrow out of my skin. I groaned in pain. Rhys came over and saw my injury. He quickly used his heal staff to heal me and I thanked him profusely. I saw that the reinforcements were coming soon and told Soren to switch to our side while I switch to his.

"Soren, switch with me now. I have an idea." I told him and he stared at me strangely as he cut off an opponent's head but he complied to my wishes and we switched quickly.

"Ike, Gatrie, Titania, we have to cut off the reinforcements quick or we'll be overpowered. Titania I want you to ride ahead and kill the boss. Fire!" I yell out as I saw an archer trying to shoot at me. "When the boss is killed the reinforcements should stop and they will probably run away. Use this hammer. He's a general so it should be super effective against him. Be careful though." Titania nodded and rode ahead to find Dakova.

"Snow is that really a bright idea? Ngh," Ike said as he was having trouble against a soldier. I used my fire spell and burnt his body to a crisp. "I know Titania is strong and all but it's still dangerous."

"Ike. I had to do that. We have to cut off the reinforcements. Ike! Duck!" I told him as I saw an arrow whizzing through the air. Ike ducked and dodged it barely.

"Phew. Thanks." Ike thanked me and I nodded to him as I used my fire spell on another soldier.

"Ike. Take this iron blade. I found this on one of the bodies. It looks new and your iron sword is starting to break. Use it when you have to." I told him simply as I handed him the blade. I suddenly remembered a slight difference with iron swords and iron blade. "By the way, it may be a little different from how an iron sword is." Ike looked at me confused and I sighed and told him to 'figure it out yourself'.

We continued our fight while we all realized a fog was rolling in. "Damn, I hope Titania's going to be alright." I thought worriedly. Suddenly a soldier appeared out of nowhere and tried to stab me. Luckily, I was able to swerve to the left in time for it to not pierce my heart but instead graze the side of my body. I used my fire spell to quickly disintegrate his body. I was looking for Rhys to help heal Ike when I saw how injured he was but saw he was busy healing Soren. There was so much blood on the ground and I knew it must've been Soren's. They were in the middle of the square after all and nobody else was there. "Soren!" I yelled to him. I looked into his eyes and saw pain in them. I got even more worried. Soren usually kept his face impassive. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Rhys used his staff to heal me. Besides, I was only grazed by the lance." Soren said simply. I looked at him angrily. I could obviously see he was in pain. It wasn't a graze. It pierced his arm. It looked like a gallon of red warm liquid was poured onto the ground.

"Soren, sit out of the rest of the battle." I said quietly. He looked at me with wide eyes.

"No," he said simply and got back up. He was a bit wobbly but nonetheless got up firmly.

"Go! Soren, you can barely stand up!" I say tears forming in my eyes."

"No! You were able to handle the pain so that means I'm able to too!" Soren looked at me with such a firm look that I gave up.

"Rhys. Soren should be able to fight right?" I asked quietly. Rhys nodded and I told Soren fine but go back Ike up. I asked Rhys to go heal Ike since he was pretty banged up. I sighed once more and saw the fog was even thicker now. I told Rhys to go inside for a minute to grab some torches after he healed Ike. He came back with five torches and I lit two of them to place on the torch rack at Shinon's side and another lit one on Ike's side. "I hope Titania's alright." I thought even more worried as half an hour passed by and there was still no sign of her.

**Titania's side**

"Hyaa!" Titania said as she cut off another soldier's head with her axe. "Huff, huff. Where is the leader? I've been going at it for half an hour and I still don't see him." Suddenly, a general of great size went up to Titania and introduced himself as 'Dakova'. The fight began as quickly. There was a brief exchange of blows but then it ended. As quickly as it began one warrior fell to the ground only to never open their eyes again.

"No… How could I lose?" and so the battle was over. Dakova smirked and breathed his last while throwing a small statue at Titania as a 'gift' for defeating him. Titania caught it and looked at it. "It's an 'Ashera Icon'." She whispered softly. It was a very rare statue that is worth more than you could imagine. It is said the person that holds it will have an improvement with luck. "Thank you. May you rest in peace." And with that done, Titania rode back to the fortress where her companions are waiting for her in hopes that she is till alive.

**Back at the Fortress**

"Titania better be alright. I mean I hope she is alright." Boyd said as the rest of us glared at him. The battle ended ten minutes ago. When the boss died the rest of the soldiers fled and the reinforcements stopped also. Greil came back to us after the soldiers stopped its seemingly never-ending hordes. There would be no casualties on our parts after Titania came back but she hasn't yet. All of us were inside the fortress waiting for her.

"Where could she be?" I thought worriedly. Suddenly, Titania opened the door. Everyone got up and walked up to her quickly. "Where were you?" I asked worriedly. She said she was riding back to the fortress when she saw a male dressed as a Daein soldier come up to her to give Snow a message. "Me?" I asked confused. She nodded her head and gave me the note.

Inside, there was a snowdrop flower and it read, "_Dear Snow, Please don't get involve in the war. I don't want to fight you. Much less, kill you. Please, don't get involved. Your friend, Shin._". "Shin…" I whispered softly. I wondered how and when Shin got to Daein when it suddenly clicked. When he moved… he moved to Daein… No wonder I never saw him again. Titania asked me if I knew this person. I nodded my head 'yes'. "At least I think so. Were you able to see any distinguishing characteristics? Like hair color or eye color?" I asked her quickly.

"I think he had sandy brown hair and bright blue eyes. His hair was kinda ruffled too. He was also carrying a sword. It had the symbol of the star on it. I think he called it Akhtar." My eyes darken a bit and a ghost of a smile grazed my lips.

"After all this time, I find that my childhood friend is on the opposing, the enemy side." I said smiling sadly. My eyes were distant and suddenly I was consumed into a flashback.

**Flashback**

(Back in 1st Grade)

"Hello class. Today we have a transfer student. His name is Shin Kaimu. Please be kind to him." said Mrs. Melina. "Shin, you can go sit next to Snow." Shin nodded and went to sit in the seat next to me.

(Recess)

"Hi. My name is Snowdrop Hitomu but everybody calls me Snow." I said smiling at Shin warmly.

"My name is Shin Kaimu." He said simply.

"Hey, want to be friends?" I ask smiling. He looked at me as if I'm an idiot.

"Why?" he asked with pure curiosity.

"Cause I wanna." I said thinking he was an idiot for not getting it.

"Fine." He said smiling. I thought he looked cute like that but I didn't tell him. In a few weeks we became best friends. Shin started to smile more and even started to make smoe friends. He even got a fan club after only 2 years in this school. Even though girls keep hanging off his every word and guys have more in common than him he hangs out with me the most. The girls were obviously cuter than me, considering how terribly I look. Shin told me I'm cuter than every girl he met but he's just saying that to make me feel better. Of course, I blushed a deep red but told him thanks anyway.

(Back in 5th Grade)

(Recess)

"Hey do you have middle name?" I asked curiously. Shin looked at me with wide eyes.

"Huh? Yeah. It's Akatsuki." Shin told me knowing that if he asked 'why' I would say 'cause I wanna know'.

"Cool. What does it mean?" I asked wonderingly.

"I think it means 'Dawn'." Shin said after thinking about it. My eyes were really wide. Seriously. Shin asked me 'what's wrong?' but I ignored it.

Instead, I say, "Really? My middle name also means 'Dawn'. Its 'Aurora'." Shin looked surprised too and we both looked at each other seriously. We looked intently into each other's eyes until suddenly, we laughed. We were rolling on our stomach laughing, hard. Tears were forming in our eyes. Neither of us could ever be that serious without breaking into laughter after a minute or two. Suddenly, Shin's face became serious.

"Snow, I have something to tell you, I-I'm-" but then Shin trailed off there. I stopped laughing then and got really worried.

"What's wrong Shin?" I asked worriedly. "He looks so sad…". I thought sadly.

Shin looked me right in the eyes and told me the one thing I really didn't want to hear from him, ever. "I'm moving."

"What?" I asked softly.

"I'm moving. I don't know where but my stepmom and dad wants to start a new life after mom died. Snow… I don't want to leave but I have to… Snow I- " Shin said until he started seeing me cry. He tried to hug me but I pushed him away. I saw the hurt in his eyes and tried to explain myself.

"Shin. Don't leave me. Please… my brother left, I don't want you to go too. Shin, I-" but I was cut off when Shin tried to kiss me on the lips. I pushed him away and told him that 'I don't want a kiss that means nothing.'

Shin looked sad and said, "I'm sorry. That was out of line."

"Yeah. It was." Suddenly there was an awkward silence. "So when are you leaving?" I asked softly.

"Tomorrow.." My heart twitched and felt like it was gonna break.

"What?" I asked softly.

"Snow. I'm going to miss you so much…" Shin said while hugging me. This time around I didn't push him away. Suddenly, he let go and dug into his pocket. "Here, I wanted to give you this flower." He said as he gave me the white flower.

"A snowdrop… Thank you Shin. I'm going to miss you too." Shin put the flower in my hair and we hugged each other again and neither said a word.

(The Next day)

(Early in the Morning)

"Shin!" I yelled to him. Shin and his family were leaving and I had to give Shin a farewell present. "Here, take this." I handed him the emblem.

"This is your star emblem… I can't take it." Shin said simply. I shook my head, "Take it." He looked into my eyes and knew that I would not take no as an answer. He took the star and thanked me for it. Shin's stepmom and dad told him they were leaving soon. Shin nodded and told me 'Bye'. Suddenly, he pecked me on the cheek and told me that someday he would come back to visit me. Shin's stepmom and dad chuckled while I blushed. After everything was packed and into the caravan, they had to leave. I saw him leave as Iwaved him goodbye.

"You better come back!" I yelled to him. When I saw they were out of sight, I walked back home.

**End of Flashback**

"Snow. Snow. Snow!" Ike said while shaking me back into reality. Literally. He was shking my shoulders so much that I got a little bit dizzy.

"Huh? What?" I asked confused. Everyone looked at me curiously and worriedly.

"Are you ok?" Titania asked worried obviously in her voice.

"I'm fine. Commander Greil, I hate to say it but we have to leave… now." I told him firmly. Greil nodded in agreement.

"Everyone, pack away necessary equipment anything else we leave behind. Rhys come with me to get the needed books in the library. All the others, we burn. Mist, go pack the clothes. Ike and Soren go pack the food. Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf go get the horses in the stable. Shinon and Gatrie will go clean up the bodies. Snow go grab the bags so we can carry our food and clothes in it. Titania go secure a safe route for us to travel on." Greil ordered out.

"My lord Greil, what should I do?" Elincia asked quietly. Greil thought about it for a moment and decided that Elincia should go help Mist out. I grabbed all of the bags I could find and gave them to Ike for food and the rest to Mist for holding our clothes.

"Mist, I can pack my own clothes." I told her simply as I headed into my room. I put the kunoichi blades that I named 'Dawn' and 'Dusk' into the my belt. I have never used the blades, yet. I put my fire tome into my cape. (Mist helped me sew a pocket to put my fire tome in it.) I packed everything else into my old backpack, including the first aid kit and the snowdrop. "Good thing I was wearing my mage outfit today." I thought as I took one of the gauze from the first aid kit to wipe the blood off of my outfit. It easily came off. I suddenly remembered that I killed for the first time today. I put my hands together and I started to cry. Not out of joy or out of sadness. Just crying. I started to hiccup uncontrollably.

"Hey Snow, hurry up! Commander Greil said to-. Why are you crying?" Boyd asked when he saw me crying on the floor.

"I don't know." I said while I sniffled. I wasn't lying, I honestly don't know why I'm crying.

"I get it. Its because you killed for the first time today. To save me…" Boyd told me while attempting to comfort me. I laughed at his attempt.

"Your right. I guess I feel dirty. You know tainted." I told him honestly. "I never wanted to kill someone but he was trying to kill you so I had to do something about it."

"There, there. Come on lets go. Commander Greil will have our heads if we keep him waiting any longer." Boyd said as he wiped my tears away and stood up. He offered me his hand and I took it.

"Thanks Boyd. Lets go." I told him while smiling.

**Outside**

"C'mon guys say goodbye. This is the last time we see it." I told them sadly. Everyone nodded sadly. Everyone said what they wanted to the old fortress and then Greil grabbed a wall torch and threw it into the fortress the fire started to spread but it wasn't enough so he grabbed the other wall torches and threw them into the fortress. The fire was spreading even more and then the walls collapsed and the fortress was of no more. Everyone bit back tears as their home was gone. Everyone sat on their horses and rode off. Now, the true journey begins…

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There we go! I liked this chapter a lot. I didn't realize that I did such a long chapter until I checked how many words were on this chapter. I accidentally did SnowxShin and a bit of SnowxBoyd and SnowxSoren by accident. My fingers wouldn't stop typing! Anyways, I worked my best on this and I hope you guys like it too! I probably won't update as fast now because school is coming up for me soon... ToT. But! I will update ASAP. If I get more reviews I will update that much faster! Now then until next time!


	6. Chapter 6: On Our Own

Hey guys I'm back! I am so sorry that it took so long to finally update! I had so much stuff to do that I didn't have time. I know that this chapter is so short but it's better than nothing right? Well anyways I'm sure you guys would like to read the story so I'll stop the author's rant.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the characters except the characters I make up.

Now then without further ado... Here's the story!

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Chapter 6: On Our Own

(Snow POV)

"Princess Elincia, you should probably drink more water. We're going to be leaving soon and we probably won't stop for awhile." I told Elincia. She nodded and drank more water from the stream. I took out the water bags and began to refill them. While I refilled them I took in my surroundings. I noticed that something was wrong and looked around in more detail. I realized what was amiss soon enough.

"Commander Greil, where's Titania?" I asked, looking around worriedly. I saw that the water bags were filled and put the cap on them quickly, all the while worrying where the red-haired paladin was.

"Titania went on ahead to see if there are any enemies." Greil told me. Titania came back after a minute with an urgent look on her face.

"There are two paths up ahead. One is the safe route where the field is wide and the other is the dangerous path where we will have to go through a forest. Unfortunately, there are enemies up ahead on the safe road." Titania told us. Everyone frowned and thought about what to do. Greil spoke up and told us to split our forces. Everyone objected to the idea while Soren and I thought about what to do. I sighed and coughed to get everyone's attention.

"Ok. Commander Greil, you take Shinon and Gatrie to take on the enemies up ahead while the rest of us take the dangerous road." Everyone voiced their opinions about how stupid it would be. I shouted over their voices saying this was the only reasonable choice. "Commander Greil would be fine on his own. I told Shinon and Gatrie to go with him as a precaution. Honestly, with them working together they will be able to handle most opponents." Everyone still said 'No' saying that it was too dangerous.

"Everyone, Snow and Commander Greil are right. We need a decoy unit to distract the main unit trying to kill us. It would be far too dangerous to have Princess Elincia on a battlefield. Besides do you people actually doubt Commander Greil's strength?" Ike called over the voices. Everyone murmured a quiet 'No' and we were finally on a decision.

"Well then, Shinon, Gatrie, let's go!" Greil said already heading towards the soon to be battlefield. Shinon and Gatrie ran quickly to catch up with Greil.

"C'mon you guys. We shouldn't waste the extra time we have. Titania, Oscar, and Mist, go get the horses ready. Everyone, take out your weapons. There will probably be a small dispatched enemy unit to search the forest." Everyone did as instructed and soon everything was ready. "Princess Elincia, you should probably ride with Mist in case you have to run. Rolf, you're going to ride alone. Alright?" Elincia, Rolf, and Mist nodded 'yes'.

We walked through the forest quickly and efficiently. Soon enough, we saw the enemy unit. "Tch. My prediction was right…" I mumbled softly. "Alright everyone! Princess Elincia, Mist, and Rolf go hide. Everyone else, get ready for battle. I don't think the enemy saw us yet so we're going to launch a surprise attack."

Suddenly, a Daein soldier caught my eye and yelled to the others that we were here. "Scratch that, Titania and I will go to the right side and cross the bridge on our own. By the way, don't get too near the boss. We should wait for everyone to get together first. Everyone else goes to the left." I told them quietly. Everyone nodded and we headed out.

(Battle Scene)

The battle was short and quick. Titania and I killed the Daein soldiers quickly and efficiently. Titania went up to the enemies while I hid behind the trees for cover and burned them to a crisp. When all the enemies on our side were done we hid near the boss but far enough so the boss couldn't see us. Now all we had to do was wait for Ike and the others.

(Ike's Side)

"Hyaa!" Ike grunted as he took down a soldier. "How many are there?" Ike wondered aloud. "I keep cutting them down but they keep coming!"

"Ike there are only five enemies left." Soren told him. Soren saw a myrmidon and quickly chanted his wind spell. The myrmidon fell with a thud. "Make that four."

"Ike! Soren!" Oscar called as he rode up to them. "Titania and Snow are waiting for us. Let's go." Ike and Soren nodded and quickly crossed the bridge. In front of them a soldier stood in their way. Ike sighed and pulled his sword out in front of him. Ike was just about to engage in battle with him until Boyd stepped in and cut him in half.

"You know, I could've handled him just fine." Ike told him.

Boyd smirked and pointed to himself cockily. "I have more experience than you so I'm supposed to help you out." Ike sighed and said he could hold his own. Soren just walked past them and headed towards Rhys who was already up ahead and towards Oscar. We all met up quickly and attacked the rest of the enemies without many difficulties. The boss was the biggest pain with his short spear. He hit Snow in the stomach and Soren in the arm. Rhys healed us quickly though. Ike finished him off and we ran towards the end of the forest.

"I hope this feeling of dread is just a feeling…" I thought worriedly. Ike called to me to hurry up as we all left the newly littered battlefield…

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I know, pretty bad huh? Well I hope you guys like it anyway. I am hoping that I can finish my new chapter quickly but I make no promises. Also, I would like to thank ALL of my awesome readers and reviewers! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing my story/stories! Also, as always, please RRR! Until next time! Later!


	7. Chapter 7: Investigation

Hey guys, I'm finally back! I had sooooo much homework lately and i barely got this chapter finished! I made it extra long (to say sorry) and I hope you guys like it! I know it isn't too long but it is longer than the last chapter so it's good enough I think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the characters except mine.

Also, i used some lines from the game but not all! I'm just putting that out there. Now then without further ado... Here's he story!

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Chapter 7: Investigation

(Snow POV)

"Titania are you sure you saw someone in the castle?" I asked as I rode beside the red-haired paladin. Everyone else was riding a bit slower behind us. Soren rode with Ike. Boyd rode with Mist. I felt sorry for the horse that had to carry Boyd and Mist. Boyd kept on accidentally kicking it at the side and Mist kept moving around to get a comfier position. Oscar rode with Rolf. Elincia rode with me. Elincia would've rode with Greil but since Greil wasn't here I rode with her.

Titania nodded. "I'm sure I saw movement in that castle."

"Alright. Soren what do you think we should do?" I asked him. Soren nudged the horse softly so it would go faster.

Soren rode beside us and answered simply. "Lets just go. It would be far wiser to head to Gallia now to lessen our worries and troubles."

Ike spoke up and shook his head. "We should go check it out. It might be Father."

"Hmm. Well then lets take a vote. Majority rules." I said decisively. Soren, Titania, Ike, and Elincia nodded. I slowed my horse down to a steady pace and the rest of the company did the same. "OK! Listen Up! We're taking a vote. 1. We could go check out that castle to see if Commander Greil, Shinon, and Gatrie are there or 2. We could mind our own business and head straight for Gallia. Understand?" Everyone nodded. "Ok 1!" All of the hands shot up except for Soren's. "Well that's that. We're going to the castle!" I exclaimed. Everyone smiled and laughed with some saying 'I can't wait to see Commander Greil again' or 'I've always wanted to be in a castle!'. Soren on the other hand was an exception. He sighed and muttered darkly around the lines of 'Stupid majority. They're all idiots.'.

(Outside The Castle)

"Lets tie the horses here." I told everybody. "Titania, Oscar. Your horses should go with you though. Just in case we have to make an escape attempt. Mist, Rolf, Princess, you three should stay outside though. Hide in the forest. It's too dangerous if this is a trap. Besides we need someone to watch the horses." Rolf and Mist reluctantly nodded and Elincia just carefully got off the horse.

"Be careful," Elincia told us as we entered the castle. Ike turned around and gave thumbs up. With that we entered the castle. I nudged Ike in the side and whispered to him.

"Aren't you the lover boy?" I whispered to him quietly. Ike glared at me and tried to bonk my head but I moved out of the way. He was even blushing lightly. "Geez. Don't have to try to hit me!"

"You deserve it though," Ike, scolded me half-heartedly. I laughed and walked away from him.

"Commander Greil! Are you here?" Boyd called out. Everyone turned around and told him to shut up. Suddenly a soldier came out of another entrance and yelled for his friends to come out.

"Great job Boyd!" I told him sarcastically. "Seriously though we were bound to fight them sometime! So don't worry about it." Boyd nodded and shrugged. And so the fight began!

(Fight Scene)

"Alright. Ike, Rhys, Oscar, and I will go to the right. Snow, Boyd, and Titania will go to the left. We'll split up later to go up." Soren told us simply. Everyone stared semi-confused or extremely confused. "Snow and I will explain on the way." Soren said annoyed. Everyone nodded and on Ike's cry of "Greil Mercenaries move out!" we began the battle.

"How annoying…" Soren muttered annoyed. "WIND! This sucks. I'm running out of pages…" he muttered as another page disappeared. While Soren was muttering to himself an archer was focusing an arrow on him. The arrow was shot, aiming straight for Soren's head. At that very moment Soren bent down to pick up the fine javelin on the floor to later give to one of his teammates. The arrow whizzed past his head, just barely. Soren looked up looking really angry. Before the poor archer could even flinch his head was cut off from Soren's attack. Soren threw the javelin towards Oscar who caught it with one hand only to throw it at a myrmidon a second later.

Ike was slicing down fighter after fighter only to see a purple haired myrmidon fighting against a fighter. Even though the woman has the upper hand with the weapon triangle she was having quite a lot of trouble. Ike ran up to the fighter and pierced his heart. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous here. Get out."

"Well-well you wouldn't happen to be Ike would you?" the woman asked him. Ike looked at the woman suspiciously but nodded. "Well then, your father sent me here. He saved my life when I was captured by those Daein jerks. I'm here 'cause he told me his son might need some help. You could say I'm repaying a debt." Ike nodded and mumbled that 'If father sent her here than she must be a good fighter.'

"Well then, my name is Mia. What should I do boss?" Mia said enthusiastically. Ike smiled inwardly and sent her over to Soren who later sent her to open the chests. Mia smiled and immediately went to open the chests with the chest keys she got from the soldier she had killed earlier. In the first chest she opened she got an armorslayer. "Sweet an armorslayer!" Mia thought happily completely unaware of her surroundings. "Now then, on to the next chest…" Mia quickly ran to the next area. Just then an arrow whizzed past her forehead. Mia turned around and saw an archer. Her face contorted with anger and she quickly ran to the archer and sliced him in half. "Phew… that was close… Now then onto the next chest!" Mia had to stop in her tracks 'cause she saw a knight closing in on her. She quickly took out her armorslayer and held it up to him. The fight was quick and simple Mia won without even getting scratched. She held up her armorslayer to the next knight and won just as easily. There were five more knights surrounding Mia though. "When I talked about being surrounded by knights in shining armor when I was little, this was not what I meant!" Mia mumbled out.

"FIRE!" I yelled out and the knight I hit instantly fell to the ground. The other knights looked at each other and quickly tried to kill me. I dodged most of their attacks with a scratch here and there. Mia came up beside another knight and killed him with her armorslayer. I continued dodging with using a fire spell here and there. In the end Mia and I prevailed.

"Hey. Thanks for the help. My name is Mia." Mia said enthusiastically. Funny coming from a girl in a near death situation.

"My name is Snow. Oh, FIRE! We can talk later." I told her as I rushed to the thief trying to loot the chests. Mia nodded and headed with me to fight.

"Think you're pretty slick huh?" I asked the thief. The thief didn't say anything but held up his knife in defense. I took out my fire tome and chanted out the spell. It hit him straight in the chest but before he died he heard me tell him "I never miss." I turned my head to face the mage, only to see he was already dead. "Well, that was fast." I told the myrmidon. She smiled and walked away. I looked down to see the shiny fire tome on the floor and grabbed it. I might be able to use it after all…

"Interesting… She can be a valuable asset." I thought deeply. The battle did not end for quite some time. "This is bad. Their reinforcements arrived sooner than I anticipated… Not to mention one of them is the Four Riders. At this rate we might really be done for…" I thought annoyed. Suddenly, Greil, Shinon, and Gatrie appeared. "Well, well. Looks like our reinforcements are here. Wait a second why is Commander Greil leaving with General Petrine. Damn it." I mumbled under my breath and ran straight up to talk to Shinon and Gatrie.

"Shinon! Gatrie! Why did the Commander leave?" I asked as I got to them. "FIRE!" I yelled once again to burn the body of a knight.

"Commander is luring away that witch. Apparently she's too strong for us to handle…" Gatrie said glumly. I looked impassive even though I was shocked. Never in my lifetime would I think to hear Gatrie talk bad about a WOMAN! "SNOW! LOOK OUT!" Gatrie yelled to me. I turned around quickly to see a arrow coming at me. Two at that.

"Damn it! I can't move!" I thought terrified. The arrow was going to reach me at any moment. 3…2…1…0. BAM! I fell backward and lay still.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked dumbly. Shinon turned around and scowled at me.

"Are you really a fighter? You suck at it! Never close your eyes when you're fighting! That's the first rule!" Shinon said scolding me. He growled at me and turned back to the battle. Gatrie went up to me and helped me up.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked him.

"Shinon shot two arrows simultaneously and took care of the two arrows coming for you. You may not believe it but Shinon really cares about you." Gatrie told me while smiling.

"Nah I doubt it." I told him.

"His hands bleed when he has to do it with an iron bow. He used it with a steel bow and shot it at **arrows**. Not only is it harder to do but he also shot them both at the same time! I swear, Shinon won't even do that for me!" Gatrie said while laughing.

"Well, that's cause you're a freaking tank!" I told him. I felt guilty now. Damn it! Shinon's hands are probably bleeding now and it's my fault! Just great!

"If you ladies are done chitchatting now then you might want to- I don't know…" Shinon said contemptively. "DO SOME FRICKEN WORK?" He said yelling at us. Gatrie and I muttered an apology and got straight to work. With the help of Shinon and Gatrie we finished the battle in under an hour. Of course the boss was the biggest pain. What was his name again? Right! It was Balmer. Man was he annoying! Boyd nearly got himself killed fighting him! Boyd has got to raise his resistance.

In the other chests we got a ward and a Miracle. Man, WHAT A DEAL! The Miracle alone was worth coming here!

"Ike! C'mon there's an entrance here! Let's see if Commander- Ike wait up!" I yelled to him but Ike was long gone. "Sigh. I'll go find him. Everyone else go find the Commander." With that I ran off in the direction of Ike.

"IKE! Damn it. Where is that idiot?" I yelled out. Suddenly Ike came up behind me and whacked me on my head. "Really? You didn't hear me shout your name tons of times but when I call you an idiot you come out of your hiding spot!" I said annoyed. I was rubbing my newly acquired bruise. Ike shrugged and went through another entry. I followed him and saw everyone inside, including Commander Greil.

"Titania! Who's winning?" I asked plainly. Titania slowly ripped her eyes off of the impressive battle and looked at me.

"Commander Greil. He's the better fighter here." Titania said smiling. Titania had the look of a child getting their candy for the first time. I couldn't help but smile back.

Just then Petrine pushed Greil back and grunted out, "Who are you? You look like a common worthless mercenary but you fight like a-a demon!"

Greil just smirked and calmly said, "Is something wrong? Do you want to surrender?" Petrine bit back the string of curses she wanted to say and instead looked at Greil with disgust.

"Never! Do not take me for a fool!" Petrine snarled out, her voice cracking in between. She knew she was out matched. There was no way she could win! Suddenly, a soldier came out of a gateway and yelled out, 'They're here! Hurry up!'. After that around a dozen soldiers showed up, surrounding the 1st gate.

"Crap. Reinforcements," I muttered under my breath. "Commander! We have to go. NOW!"

"Tch. Guess I have no choice…" Greil mumbled under his breath. "C'mon we're leaving." Greil roared out. Everyone nodded and was about to leave when 3-dozen more soldiers came out.

"MWA HA HA HA HA! So now look who's in trouble?" Petrine said in a sickening voice. I shivered and glared with hate filled and disgusted eyes.

"Now don't glare at me little girl! It makes me _so_ scared." Petrine smirked giving a fake shiver. I turned away from her and took out my Fire tome. Everyone followed my lead and took out their weapons. "Now Now, I wasn't going to kill you but now I changed my mind! After all, you _did _take your weapons out. Soldiers ATTACK!" she roared out.

"Tch. Looks like our lucky run is ending…" Greil murmured to himself.

"Father…" Ike said softly. Greil looked up with determination.

"Ike. You have to live! I won't lose you. Not here of all places! Get ready!" Greil said to Ike. Ike nodded and took his stance.

"Now now my pretties. You have nothing left! Nowhere to run! No more reinforcements! What are you to do?" Petrine smiled evilly. "Oh well curse whoever you want 'cause you are to die here and now! I think I will start with that feisty bitch." I glared determinedly in her direction and held my tome. She laughed and issued the order to attack. Everyone got their weapons but it was not needed, for us anyway. There came a roar from all directions and it shook everyone up.

"F-father… What was that?" Ike asked nervously. Greil ignored him and only smirked. I stood there and looked at Ike. He was sweating and his usual red face from training was a sickly pale white. Did that sound scare him that much? I looked at everyone else and they seemed fine other than Shinon and Soren. Shinon looked ready to kill someone and Soren just formed his face into a deeper scowl than his usual one. I then look at myself and realized I was shivering. When was I shivering? I tried to control my body but only resulted in hyperventilating. I held my breath and counted backward by ten. When I reached zero I was calm enough to only be twitching. That was a good start.

Suddenly, a Daein soldiers shouted out, "B-b-beasts! Gallain beast soldiers!" Another cried out to run and another just broke down crying. They were all doing different things but they all agreed on one thing, 'They had got to get out of here!'. The 1st group was just about to leave when Petrine yelled out.

"Stand your ground. I will kill each and every one of you personally if you leave!" Petrine snarled out. All the soldiers cried out but soon enough groups left except for the first group.

"Worthless bunch!" Petrine snarled out. The group that left moments before came back in a rush with a few members missing.

"B-b-beasts!" a Daein soldier cried out, tears welling up in his eyes. I was too dumbfounded to realize what was going on. I slowly and numbly walked over to Greil.

"Commander Greil… I have a really bad feeling about this. I-I feel really queasy…" I told him honestly. Greil looked at me shocked but I continued soon. "These 'beasts' these jerks are talking about are making my head hurt… What's going on?"

"Snow. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm sorry." Greil said simply. I nodded and walked to Ike and lay my head on his back. Ike didn't even realize I was lying on him strangely enough. I could feel Soren glare at me so I slowly moved away from Ike and lay my head on Boyd's back. Boyd looked at me worriedly and I just shook my head and smiled.

"Sorry. My head just hurt a bit. Could I lay my head down for a bit?" I asked him.

"Snow never asks. She always does what she feels like doing! I wonder what's wrong…" Boyd thought worriedly. Boyd nodded his head 'yes' and so I lay my head on him.

"So… I wasn't the only one to have this feeling…" Greil thought nauseously. "What is this feeling gnawing at me from the back of my head?"

Suddenly three Gallian soldiers came out of the east entrance. Well at first it was three but then four more came out. My heart leapt when one of them transformed into a form of which looked like a man. The man stepped forward and spoke.

"Attention Daien soldiers. Leave at once! If you do not leave then you will face Gallia's strength!" the blue haired man/cat answered. Shinon swore under his breath about something being stupid. Ike looked like he was going to jump. Boyd had his mouth hanging open. Soren just gritted his teeth. Oscar was the same as always. Gatrie looked indifferent. Rhys looked scared. Mia looked peppy. Titania was smiling. Greil looked… happy? I don't know why but I suppose it was a good thing. Me on the other hand was not doing so well… I was holding my head as my head hurt even more. Some images formed into my head but quickly dispersed.

"What _was_ that?" I asked myself.

"Whatever. It won't scare me!" Petrine said confidently although her voice was breaking. "If I leave now I will be killed anyway. I'd rather die here in battle with honor."

Suddenly, a general with stunning black armor sauntered in from the west gate. He spoke in a low but strong voice.

"Withdraw General." The general said in a low firm voice.

"The Black Knight…" Petrine said with fear in her voice.

"Do not worry about the king… I will explain things to him… Take your men and leave… NOW!" the Black Knight bellowed out. Petrine gritted her teeth and called back her troops. The Black Knight soon turned his gaze towards Greil and stayed staring there. He slowly turned his gaze to me and I stared back. I soon felt this terrible feeling and screamed out…

"AAAARGH!" I screamed out as my head felt like it was going to burst. The Greil Mercenaries stared at me but everyone else ignored me. I gripped my head and felt like I was going to die.

"S-Snow! What's wrong?" Boyd asked worriedly. I ignored his question as feelings of doubt, worry, and despair entered my body. The images followed soon after. Images of a dead Greil… The tears of everyone around… I turned towards Commander Greil with tear stained eyes.

"Com- Commander! Careful! Be careful…" I said as the visions ended and I fainted.

"SNOW!" was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

(After Snow fainted)

"Hey! Do you really think you could take us all on by yourself?" the blue haired man/cat asked the Black Knight. The general did not reply back and just left. Greil looked back at the retreating form distantly.

"Father?" Ike asked him but was not answered.

(Outside)

"Father! Brother! You're alright! I'm so glad…" Mist said while tears of joy threatened to spill over.

"Mist!" Ike said happily.

"Master Greil, my lord Ike… I am so happy you are well." Elincia said smiling a warm smile.

"Princess…" Ike said blushing. The clapping of the blue haired cat/man snapped Ike out of his staring reverie.

"How romantic... Anyways, wondering how we got here huh? Well the princess found the Gallian scouts that were sent to find her and requested that the scouts send some Gallian soldiers to help your mercenary company. That is why we're here." Ranulf said in one breath.

"Are you one of Gallia's sub-humans?" Ike asked stupidly. Ranulf growled and bared his teeth but stood his ground.

"Sub-human? What arrogance! You dare say it in my face?" Ranulf snarled out. He hissed but still stood his ground. "You think that people like you are worthy of the name "human" and so we laguz must be beneath you? And that's why you call us "sub-human." We are less than human to you, is that it?" Ike looked down and felt guilty.

"I-I'm sorry… I don't know any other name for you… If I offended you in any way, I apologize." Ike said in an apologetic voice. Ranulf stopped growling and started looking at Ike warily. "Should I call you laguz? Would that be more… appropriate?" Ike asked.

"Huh? You have manners? That's weird… I like that." Ranulf said smiling. "Now then who are you exactly?"

"My name is Ike. Ike of the Greil mercenaries." Ike told him.

"I'm Ranulf, a warrior of Gallia." Ranulf told him formally. "We didn't know what to think when a group of beorc came tramping through Gallian territory…" Ranulf said laughing while Ike was sweat dropping. "Imagine how surprised we were to find out that one of them was Princess Elincia. Now, _that_ was a shock. Two days ago, Daein proclaimed their conquest. We thought Crimea's royals had all been killed." Ike thought about what Ranulf said but then it clicked.

"Conquest? They've laid claim to Crimea? So that means Crimea must be…" Ike said distantly. A worried expression plastered on his face.

"I… also heard this news from my lord Ranulf…" Elincia said softly while tears was welling up in her eyes. "After… after I fled the capital… My lord uncle Renning… He… I am alone now…" Elincia said so soft that no one could really hear her. Elincia broke down and started crying.

"Princess Elincia… It'll be alright." I told her. Everyone turned their head towards my direction and I smiled sheepishly.

"Snow!" Ike said relieved. I saluted them and went to Elincia. I patted her on the back and she went into my arms weeping softly.

"It must've been so hard for you…" I whispered to her softly. I kept on trying to whisper comforting words to her but eventually stopped. Ranulf teared his eyes away from us and started talking to Ike and Greil again.

"That is why our king ordered extra patrols along the nation's border. It wasn't just chance that brought my warriors here to offer you support." Ranulf said distantly.

"I see…" Ike said softly.

"First though… I must present Princess Elincia to the king." Ranulf said simply. "As for the rest of your men, Ike. I must get orders from my superiors. Until then you may rest at an old castle inside Gallia. Sorry, but I cannot bring such a large group of foreigners to the palace without warning." Ike nodded and turned to Greil.

"Commander, that's not going to be a problem, will it?" Ike asked Greil. Greil didn't say anything so Ike asked again. Again Greil did not respond. "Commander?" Greil snapped out of it and asked what Ike said again.

"What's wrong? You're not paying attention. It's not like you." Ike asked worriedly.

"I was thinking about something…" Greil said again distantly. "So, what's been decided?" Ike stared at Greil but didn't ask what's wrong.

"Princess Elincia is going with Ranulf. We're going into Gallia and setting up camp at an old castle." Greil nodded in understanding. "Which way to the castle, Ranulf?"

"I shall prepare a guide to take you. One of you! Quickly!" Ranulf yelled to one of his men. Greil shook his head and smiled.

"No. It's fine. If it's nearby, we cross the river on the border and head west. It's Gebal Castle, correct?" Greil asked Ranulf. Ranulf nodded so Greil continued. "You go ahead and get the princess to King Caineghis as fast as you can." Ranulf paused for a moment and answered.

"…Understood. What thoughtful guests you are. If you'll excuse me. Oh and if it's not overly presumptuous, I'll have food delivered to you later." Ranulf said while motioning for Elincia and his men to get ready to go to Gallia. Elincia let go of me and smiled. She mumbled a soft 'Thank you' and I smiled back.

"We'd appreciate it. The road has been hard, and we had little time to pack more than salted meat and hard biscuits." Greil told him.

"Then we shall provide! Princess Elincia, shall we leave?" Ranulf asked her politely. Elincia nodded and turned but quickly turned back to talk to us.

"Farewell, everyone… Until later. I will see you soon… won't I?" Elincia asked us.

"Mm." Greil answered.

"Take care." Ike smiled at her. I hugged her and smiled.

"Come visit soon!" I told her. She nodded and left with Ranulf.

"Well then let's head for Gebal Castle!" I told them. They nodded and started walking back to the rest of the group. Greil stopped me and motioned for Ike to go on ahead.

"When did you wake up?" Greil asked me.

"A while ago." I answered him.

"What did you mean by telling me to be careful?" Greil asked.

"I saw these… visions… You were…" I started but couldn't choke out the words.

"The Black Knight killed me, I suppose?" Greil stated more than questioned. I shook my head but refused to say more.

"Are you alright now?" Greil asked me instead.

"Yes." I told him and with that we headed back to the group.

"Ready to go?" I asked everyone. Everyone cheered. Well almost everyone… With that we headed to Gebal Castle.

"What is this terrible feeling?" I asked myself. I shook my head and ran to keep up with the rest of the group. "I hope this is just a feeling…"

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Well... How was it? Did you like it? Hate it? Well I hope you liked it and the next chapter should be out soon if I don't have too much homework... As always RRR and BYE!


	8. Chapter 8: A Warrior's Death

Hey you guys! Sorry for the long wait! With a lot of homework coming I had like no time but here it is and I hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or any of the characters except mine.

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Chapter 8: A Warrior's Death

(Snow POV)

"Ah! We're finally here!" Mist cried out as we reached the old castle. There were cries of joy and relief throughout our small party. It's been 3 hours of nonstop walking and riding and our butts and feet were growing numb and tired. The minute we reached the entrance of the castle everyone dismounted and stretched their limbs.

"Everyone! Roommates now." Greil ordered briefly. Obviously, something is on his mind. Everyone nodded at this brief order as we walked around looking for roommates.

"Snow! Roommates?" Mia called to me loudly. "Snow?" Mia came up to me then and waved her hand in front of me but I continued staring in space. "Snow!"

"Huh? What?" I asked Mia. Mia looked at me as if to see through what was spacing me out.

"Snow… You've been spacing out since you woke up. What's up?" Mia asked worriedly.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. So you were saying?" I asked to try to change the subject. Mia easily complied to my wishes and went on to her question.

"Roommates." She replied simply. I nodded in agreement and went to go tell Ike.

"Yo Ike. Mia and I are roommates." I called to him. He nodded and went up to Greil.

"Father." Ike called as he went up to him. Greil shook off his thoughts and looked in the direction of the voice. "Soren and I, Mist and Titania, Boyd and Rolf, Mia and Snow, and Oscar and Rhys." Greil nodded and dismissed Ike with a wave of his hand. That generally pisses Ike off but now…

"Everyone! You have your roommates so choose a room and unpack. You have an hour's rest and then we meet." Greil bellowed. Everyone nodded and went to their assigned (chosen) room.

"Snow! This way!" Mia told me. I nodded absentmindedly and walked toward our room. It was a simple two-bed room with a small dresser beneath the beds. "Ahh. Isn't this place just perfect?" I mumbled a quiet 'yeah' and went to sit down on my bed. "C'mon Snow! Let's go spar!" Mia said enthusiastically.

"Ask Ike. I don't feel like it right now." I told her simply she looked at me for 30 seconds and then left to go find Ike.

"What the hell am I doing?" I thought to myself. "I'm worried about a stupid scene that I saw for a brief second. That's it. I have lost my mind." I lay down and rubbed my temple. I heard a knocking at my door and muttered a 'Come in.'.

"Snow. Commander Greil wants to speak to you in the back." Soren said briefly. I stared at him and he stared back. Then I saw a vein pop on Soren's forehead and he mumbled an exasperated "What?"

"Anymore info?" I asked simply. He shook his head and backed out of the room. I sighed and got up. I walked to the backyard and saw Greil sitting under an apple tree with birds all around him, smiling.

"Commander? You wanted to speak to me?" I asked breaking his attention from the birds. He motioned me to sit and laughed.

"Snow, I'm going to die tonight. I know it. I can feel it in my gut." Greil said smiling. I stood not showing my emotions on my face or eyes. Inside I felt terrified, I felt like slapping Greil to get him out of his ideas of death.

Instead I said, "How do you know that Greil?" I forgot all about my position and asked the question coldly. He laughed and said to me.

"I don't know." Was his simple reply. I glared at him.

"Why? Why would you say you are going to die if you don't even know?" I asked, my voice slightly quivering as my resolve to not cry began to slowly fall apart.

"Because I saw her. Elena." Greil said smiling. "For the first time in so many years… I saw her smiling at me, from the heavens. She knows it, I know it, and **you** know it Snow." I bit down on my tongue to stop the tears that was threatening to spill.

"Then why? WHY TELL ME? WHY DON"T YOU TELL IKE ALL THIS?" I asked as my tears finally spilled. I wiped them away but they continued to spill. Greil looked at me calmly and… peacefully?

"You know why Snow. You know why." Greil got up and walked away from me. I looked behind his retreating form and started breaking down.

"Why? WHY?" I thought angrily." I don't get it. Why the hell would he tell me this?" Then what Greil said moments ago broke into my thoughts, "You know why Snow. You know why." I growled and slid down to the ground. "Why?"

"Hey Snow, can you help me practice… Snow? What's wrong?" Rolf asked worriedly. I gasped and he came rushing to my side. "Snow? What's wrong?" I looked at Rolf and started to cry some more. Rolf looked panicky and started to repeat his questions again and again. I turned from crying in my hands to crying on Rolf. I clenched onto him crying hard. He looked shaken up but started to hug me and rub my back up and down. After an hour or so, I stopped and fell asleep.

"I wonder what's wrong with Snow." Rolf thought worriedly as he lifted up my body and thought even more worried. "Why is she so light? This can't be normal."

-x-

"Mist… Do you think Snow is acting a bit strange?" I asked her worriedly. She stared at me thoughtfully.

"No… I don't think so." Mist said slowly. "Why?" I shrugged and said simply.

"I don't know I guess she's just acting a bit strange." I said honestly. Mist shrugged and went off to go find Rhys. Boyd stepped out of the corner and grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Rolf. Talk. Now." Boyd said simply. I looked at him strangely, wondering what the heck he was talking about. "About Snow. What happened?" My mouth made an 'O' shape and answered.

"Oh she's just acting a bit strange." I said simply. Boyd looked at me pissed and grabbed me by the collar and lifted me to our room.

"Put me down Boyd!" I said angrily. Boyd ignored me and threw me into the room, locking it.

"Now then. What the hell did you see Snow do?" Boyd asked. I sensed worry etched in his voice and thought about telling him the spectacle.

"… I don't know if this is just me but in all my years of knowing Snow, I've never saw her break down before." I told him worried. Boyd whistled and smiled sadly.

"Ever since this stupid war started, she changed so much. From the bright lively girl to the distant cold girl." Boyd said sadly. I nodded and asked how he knew that.

"When she first killed that night, she was crying. She never shows her emotions like that but now she is…" Boyd said sadly. We sat in silence for a bit when we heard news that food was brought. "C'mon brat. Let's go, dinner's ready." Boyd muttered and ruffled my hair. I glared at him half-heartedly and walked out of the room after him.

-x-

Dinner was lively but distant. Everyone ate at different areas around the castle. I woke up an hour back and missed the meeting but Soren filled me in on what happened. Now I'm sitting next to Mia, nodding absentmindedly.

"… so how about it?" Mia asked me. I nodded and stood up. "Great then tomorrow at dawn we'll begin our first spar!" Mia giggled excitedly and I smiled. I walked away from her and went into the kitchen. I washed my hands and turned to see Ike behind me.

"You full Ike?" I asked him smiling. He nodded and we began to talk about what happened during the meeting when Greil came in and asked Ike to take a walk with him. Ike nodded and waved me goodnight. I waved back and started toward my room when a powerful headache overtook me. Images of a dead Greil being carried by Ike flooded through my mind and I cried out in pain. I clutched onto my head until the images and pain stopped. When I looked up I saw Shinon looking down at me annoyed.

"Oi. What's wrong now?" Shinon asked annoyed. At that moment everyone came in except Greil and Ike and came crowding around me. I shook my head and mumbled a quiet apology. I stood not knowing that I fell and ran to my room. After an hour when I thought everyone was back and asleep I snuck outside. I couldn't sleep with my worries racking up on me. When I got outside, I saw Greil and Ike approaching when Greil suddenly stopped and yelled something to Ike and ran off. Ike followed and I followed after.

"No… NO!" I thought worriedly. "This can't be possible!" When Ike stopped and screamed. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up. Greil stood, fighting against The Black Knight when he suddenly fell. A swordsman stood behind him taking out his sword from Greil's pierced stomach. Blood poured quickly out and the grip was lost. Greil's axe slid slowly out of his grasp while he bent over in pain.

"NO!" Ike and I both screamed as Greil began slipping away from us. I ran quickly to Greil's side and started weeping. Ike stood in front of us holding his iron sword against The Black Knight, ready to fight.

"Ike. Don't. You'll die." I told him softly as I began to pour all the vulneraries I had on me into Greil's wound and forced his mouth open to pour in the rest. Greil got up slowly and gripped his axe. I looked up to see my worst nightmare. There stood Shin looking down at me, eyes darkened and cold.

"Shin… Why?" I asked him angrily. Shin looked away from me as he realized who it was then looked back up with hateful eyes. He showed Akhtar to me and tore the emblem away from it and threw it at me.

"I don't need it anymore." He said simply to me and the sword reverted back to a silver blade. The emblem burned and there was nothing left to show it was ever there. I looked at him horrified. That was the one thing held dearest to my family and he destroyed it like it was nothing. The Black Knight then went over to him and asked gruffly.

"Why did you interfere?" Shin didn't answer and instead stood behind the Black Knight. The Black Knight stood for a moment but then sauntered over to me and Ike when Greil spoke up.

"Hey the fight isn't over yet. You can't go through them until you get through me." Greil said simply as he gripped onto his axe tighter. "Snow, Ike do not interfere." And with that charged at the Black Knight who punctures him in the same area that Shin punctured a few moments ago. Blood poured out twice as fast and new tears erupted in my eyes. Ike looked angrily at The Black Knight and attacked for all he was worth. The Black Knight held up his sword and knocked Ike out with one quick flick of his sword. Ike knocked back with his sword across the field lay unprotected from The Black Knight only a foot away. I looked between the knocked back Ike and the dying Greil. Suddenly, a roar erupted from the surrounded forest and The Black Knight stopped. He hesitated and then walked back.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky." He said simply and left using a powder in which Shin quickly followed behind with one last look at me that said 'Sorry'. I cried out and stood while lifting a heavy Greil while Ike stood and walked to help me carry his father. We walked hurriedly back to the castle when rain started to pour on us. Greil smiled and looked from me to Ike.

"I'm not going to make it." He told us simply.

"No you are Father." Ike said confidently but it was obvious his voice was cracking. I kept quiet while my tears began to pour out once again.

"Ike you will have to carry this team. The burden is heavy so that's why Snow is going to-" and Greil started coughing up blood. I knew he wasn't going to last. "Snow will carry the burden with you."

"Father you aren't going to die!" Ike said beginning to cry.

"Take care of Mist Ike." Greil said as his voice began to become quieter.

"NO! FATHER!" Ike screamed.

"Elena… I'm coming…" and with that Greil died. Everyone head Ike's scream and came rushing out. Everyone saw the still man in our arms and knew what had occurred. Titania picked up Greil with help from Boyd and walked towards the door when I called to them.

"He's dead." I whispered but everyone heard me even through the pounding rain. We all cried there and after what seemed like a lifetime we carried Greil's body to a mountain and buried him. The whole time Mist was crying and clinging to Ike. We all left them alone there and walked back to base except me. I ran back into the forest to pick up Ike's forgotten sword and Greil's axe. When I went there I saw Ranulf and a red haired man there.

"Why are you here?" I asked them. They said nothing and threw me Ike's sword. I caught it and went to pick up Greil's axe. "I know you guys were there. That's why The Black Knight ran off." Again they said nothing and I smiled sadly. I put Ike's sword in my belt and was about to walk away when I saw another sword. I picked it up and was shock as another painful thought went into my head except this time, there were no images of people, just two swords. The pain stopped and I saw the two laguzes were gone. I sheathed the other sword as well and ran back to base. The swords pierced my legs as I ran back considering my belt was not meant for swords alongside daggers. I put both swords down in my room and ran back to the grave of Greil's, axe still in hand. When I saw Ike I gave him the axe in which he dug into the ground and I left mumbling to Ike, "He died protecting who he cared about. He died wanting to see his wife again. He died a warrior's death." As I left I wondered. What else could go wrong? What else?

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So... I hope you guys like it and PLEASE REVIEW! And thank you for having patience with me! Later!


	9. Chapter 9: Tears and Regret

Hey I'm back with a new chapter! I hope you guys like it and please RRR!

Disclaimer: Do not own Fire Emblem or any of it's characters except mine

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Chapter 9: Tears and Regret

"Snow! You're back! How'd everything go?" Boyd asked anxiously. I ignored him and walked to my room. "Yo! Snow!" I continued and locked the door behind me as he began to pound on my door. I looked around the room and tears began to well up in my eyes once again. I ran to my bed and sat holding my head down.

"_Sorry"_

"_I'm not going to make it"_

"_Next time you won't be so lucky"_

"_You know what you must do next"_

The last thought made me jump up, frightened. "What. What must I do?"

"Commander, why? Why? You knew death was waiting yet you walked up to it anyway. Why?" I tried to make sense of Greil's actions but found none. I heard a soft knock on my door and a small, barely audible voice. I wiped away my tears and went to the door. I opened the door and saw Soren.

"What?"

"Good. You're not weeping too." I looked at him questioningly and he sighed, irritated. "Everyone's been either crying or drinking. Hell even Titania forgot her morals and started drinking like a madman."

"Well, what do you want?"

"It concerns Gatrie and Shinon. They left." I looked at him shocked, hoping he was lying.

"No! Arrgh. Why now? At our most crucial moment."

"Simple. When Commander Greil died, Ike took over and is now the leader of the Greil Mercenaries." I rubbed my temple, irritated. I had to ask didn't I? Those idiots!

"Why didn't you talk to them?" I asked gritting my teeth.

"I did, but Shinon said it would be a waste of his time to go with us to our deaths and Gatrie shrugged and walked with Shinon. What could I do? Offer them a raise that will most likely NOT happen?" I growled and moaned.

"Where's Mist and Ike?"

"Outside." Rolf came rushing in all of a sudden shouting.

"Daeins! A lot of them!" he yelled nervously. Oh great! Why now?

"Rolf, go hide with Mist and Princess Elincia."

"I don't know where she is." Damn it! Of course Ike and Mist are still out! Just great!

"Go hide. When we find Mist we'll tell her you're inside." Rolf nodded and went to hide.

"Soren. Go get Oscar, Boyd, Titania, and Mia. I'm going to go find Ike and Mist. If they attack, hold them off until we get back. We can't afford to lose anybody." I ordered simply. Soren glared at me but complied.

"Let's go." I told him and grabbed my tome and put it in my cape and grabbed my belt. I quickly put it on and rushed outside.

-X-

"Ike! Mist! Where are you guys?" I yelled into the clearing. I ran into the mountains and didn't find them so I rushed to the clearing where Greil had died. There I saw Ike hunched over Mist's body. I gasped and rushed over.

"Ike! What happened to Mist is she ok? Did they get you guys?" I asked worriedly. Ike looked up, his eyes were void of any emotions. "Ike! What happened?" I screamed at him. Ike snapped out of his thoughts and seem to have woken up.

"Huh? Snow. What are you doing here?" Ike asked confused. He looked down and saw Mist lying on his lap. He gently shook her awake. Mist opened her eyes, yawning slightly. I was ready to slap them both when I heard a battle cry coming from the castle.

"Ike! We got to go. Now!" I shouted at him, already running back to the castle. Ike and Mist followed me and when we reached, we saw the castle swarming with Daeins. "Crud. Ike, take Mist through the side entrance. I'll hold them off while you get Mist to safety." Ike and Mist looked at me worriedly. I smiled and murmured, "I'll be alright. Don't worry about me. Besides, neither of you guys have weapons right now so I have to fight." They nodded although Ike did so reluctantly. I told them to go the minute the Daeins attention was on me and they nodded in agreement, knowing that was the best chance they had.

I ran into the battlefield, running up the stairs and shouting my fire spell as loud as I could to get their attention on me. The Daeins turned and surrounded me. I used my fire spell to kill some of them while Ike got Mist to the safety of the castle, vaguely, I saw Mist crying holding onto Ike. I hesitated seeing that and it cost me a wide gash on my side. The blood poured out instantly and a blood-curdling cry erupted throughout my body. I collapsed onto one knee and saw a myrmidon in front of me holding a sword, ready to strike it down quickly. I gritted my teeth and smiled briefly.

"At least I got them to safety…" I thought briefly. I looked up to see Ike coming at the myrmidon with no weapon in his hands. I growled in frustration. I didn't do this so Ike could die! "NO! Ike. Stay where you are! Get a sword at least!" I shouted to him. The myrmidon turned briefly to see who was behind him when I jumped on him. The myrmidon moved around trying to throw me off of him. I held on, knowing that if I let go, Ike and I would die. I saw an arrow whizzing at us and let go of him. The arrow hit flesh instantly and the myrmidon let out a howl. He pulled the arrow out of his arm and glared at me hatefully.

"You little skank! I'll-" he began but Ike came out at that moment and punctured his heart. Blood poured everywhere. I hissed when I felt some of the blood hit my clothes.

"Thanks Ike." I muttered quietly. He nodded briefly and I muttered a curse when I couldn't get up without nearly falling over. Mia came up next to me and helped me to the inner castle walls.

"Thanks Mia." She nodded and headed off to battle once again. Rhys rushed over to me and healed me quickly. I felt relief instantly and thanked Rhys. He nodded and rushed off. I frowned, I'm thanking people way too much lately. I got up and rushed to the right side of the battlefield to meet up with Ike and Mia.

"Ike, go to the right side. Boyd needs backup." He nodded and I rushed to Oscar to get him to take over Ike's position. I stood behind Oscar, killing the enemies that came forth when a purple haired mage stood in front of us. She looked ready to faint. I grit my teeth. This was not the time to worry about the enemies! Although Oscar had different plans.

"Miss. Are you alright?" The girl looked up startled, she was really pale.

"So… hungry…" she murmured. I nearly did fell hearing that. She was hungry?

"Uh. This is gonna sound rude but if you're so hungry that you look like the walking dead… Why are you fighting?"

"I was with a caravan group when the Daeins attacked us. I got separated from them and they took me as a slave. The group of Daeins who captured me got assigned to here so they put me to work." I sighed. Is this a gag?

"Well we haven't seen any-" I began when Oscar interrupted me.

"Your caravan group is inside the castle right now." The girl looked up relieved.

"Oh well then. If you don't mind. I would like to join your group." The girl stated happily.

"You want to join us?" I asked warily.

"Yes! The Daein soldiers threw and ate my snacks so I only got three meals a day when I was with them. Three!" she cried horrified. Seriously, am I being put on here?

"Um. Then what's your name? We could use all the help we can get." I told her. Oscar looked at me strangely and I ignored it. Instead, I motioned for Oscar to go help Mia. He nodded and rod to her side quickly.

"My name is Ilyana…" she said quietly. I nodded and told her mine. I told her to go back Mia up while I went to see the progress we were making. I looked around and saw that we were going to lose if we continued at this rate. I prayed to the goddess that somehow we'd prevail. I then went to Soren and told him that at this rate we wouldn't win.

"I know. There's almost no chance for us to win…" Soren groaned. I perked up at the word 'almost'.

"Almost? What do you have in mind?" I asked him.

"Well, while you went to go find Ike and Mist, a caravan showed up and I bought a new wind and fire tome." I nodded in understanding. "And well… No it's impossible!"

"What?" I asked irritated. If we were going to die anyway, I would rather try living then to die knowing there was something I could've done to prevail. Soren glared at me and handed me the wind tome.

"Were going to have to combine the power of one spell." He told me seriously. I thought about it then groaned.

"Come again?"

"Were going to have to combine the wind to kill of multiple enemies at once."

"That's it. You lost your mind." Soren glared at me and I didn't falter.

"This is our only hope." I sighed and growled to him.

"You might think it would work for you but I never used the wind tome in my life! Why can't we use fire? You used it before at least."

"Fire is too wild. Wind is the calmest so it's our best chance of keeping our allies alive and controlling it. You're smart Snow and lucky. You'll figure it out." I growled again and started reading the wind tome. It was completely foreign to me.

"Soren I can't read a thing here."

"Well you're going to have to." He told me and began fighting again when Boyd and Ike began to struggle. "Study it for a bit. I'll tell you when we have to use it." I nodded and went off into the quietest corner of the inner wall to read the wind tome. I understood a word or two but that was it. I growled and nearly through the wind tome into the wall when I spotted a shiny… shell? I put the wind tome in the second slot on my cape and picked it up. My head immediately began to hurt. I cried out in pain and saw images once again. I vaguely saw Rhys next to me trying to comfort me while the others tried to concentrate on their battle and not on their fallen ally. My vision began to blur and I vaguely saw Rhys cry out when I fainted.

-X-

"Mommy. Mommy. Look at what Ian gave to me! He said it was special!" I told her. I held up the beautiful shell and smiled widely. My mother looked at it and smiled warmly.

"Well that's great sweetheart. Be careful not to lose it. It's one of a kind." I looked at her confused. "I gave this to your brother when he was born. There's none like it. It holds a secret power that only one with your blood can wield."

"My blood? Does that mean mommy can't use it?" I asked her. She nodded. "Ok! I'll take care of it! I promise!" I hugged the shell to me tightly.

-X-

"Snow!" I vaguely heard Rhys yell at me. I shook out of my dilemma in time to see Soren get stabbed by a lance. He cried out in pain as a trickle of blood fell from where his wound was.

"Rhys, heal Soren! Quickly!" I yelled at him as I opened the wind tome to study again. I ignored the cries of agony on both sides, covering my ears to concentrate. All the words still looked confusing when I remembered what Soren told me once.

"_Clear your mind. You'll get more accomplished if you don't think hard about it."_ At the time, I thought he was joking. I shook my head and creased my bro. I let loose the breath I was holding and let my thoughts flee me.

"Ok clear my mind and let my mind flow steadily." I thought to myself. I let myself go and breathed steadily. I closed my eyes and then opened them again. I read the tome and found it a bit easier to read. I skimmed it over and got a vague idea of it.

"Snow! It's now or never!" I heard Soren call to me. I sighed and ran to where Soren was. "Ready?"

"Not really." I began when I saw an arrow whizz pass me to land on the ground. "But it doesn't seem like I have a choice do I?" Soren smiled emotionlessly.

"Nope. Now hold my hand." I took his hand in mine. On his signal we began to read the wind tome at the same time. Where our hands connected, I felt a slight growth of power. We were near the end of the spell when I stumbled. I was about to let go of his hand so I would bear the backlash on my own but Soren kept a tight grip and continued the incantation with me following instinctively. We both felt a backlash and restarted the spell. I saw sweat pouring down Soren's face and I frowned.

"This is my fault…" I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. We finished the incantation a second time and it worked. On his right and my left, we felt an immense strength of power.

"MOVE!" Soren and I yelled to Ike and Boyd. They both moved quickly and we unleashed the combined wind spell. We felt the immense strength coming from it and we both lost our breath. I heard cries of pain in the direction of the double wind spell we unleashed. I saw bodies thrown up and the wall cracking. A bit of debris fell on the soldiers hiding from the devastating spell. The bodies that were thrown up were either extremely injured or dead. Soren and I stood there. Looking at the devastation that lay on our path. I smiled.

"We did it Sor-" I didn't get to finish. At that moment Soren fell, as did I.

"Snow!"

"Soren!" Cries of alarm went through our small band as the whole group except for the unconscious heard a devastating roar. Two laguz's suddenly came charging up, knocking or killing the humans in their path. A third laguz went up the path that was devastated, nearly tripping due to the broken floor. He shifted back to his beorc form and called out.

"Get out of here! If you wish to live then you will leave!" The Daeins stood paralyzed for a few seconds until a soldier cried out.

"Su-subhuman's! ARRRGH!" After that, panic ensued and each soldier left one by one until a pack started running. Everyone soon cleared out until it left the laguz's and the Greil Mercenaries.

-X-

"Sorry for not arriving sooner. Glad everyone made it though!" Ranulf exclaimed. Some of the mercenaries smiled in relief. Others were holding the unconscious forms of Soren and Snow. Ike, being the leader came up and shook the laguz's hand.

"Thank you for coming. I don't know what we would've done without your help." Ranulf shrugged and grinned sheepishly.

"Eh. We didn't do much. After seeing that terrifying wind, I think everyone was willing to leave." Ike and Ranulf shared a laugh. Right after though, Ike's and Ranulf's face turned grim.

"Are they alright?" Ike glanced back at Snow and Soren.

"I think so…"

"You've got quite a strong group here." Ike smiled fondly now.

"No. I don't." At this Ranulf looked up confused. "I have a strong family. They're the best I could've asked for." Ranulf nodded in understanding. Boyd went up then and knocked both Ike and Ranulf upside the head.

"If you ladies are done chatting, then how about we look after Snow and Soren now?" Ike nodded and bid a short goodbye to Ranulf as he began to lift Soren up and into the castle. Oscar proceeded to lift Snow up and went inside. Boyd stood outside, frowning.

"How did they get in?" Ranulf frowned and shrugged.

"I don't know." Boyd went up and grabbed Ranulf by his collar.

"You don't know? You don't know? We nearly got killed here! I thought you said this would be a safe place to stay!" The orange hair cat shifted and went up to Boyd, growling.

"If you want to live _human_, then you will get your filthy hand off of him." She hissed out. Boyd growled and let go.

"Bah! Fine." Boyd left and went inside the castle.

"Lethe. Mordecai. I want you two to escort this group to the capital. I need to go on ahead and report this." Lethe hissed and Mordecai nodded. "I'm counting on you two." Ranulf transformed and ran back to the capital. Lethe and Mordecai walked inside the castle and saw preparations made to heal their allies.

-X-

"Snow and Soren aren't waking up." Mist muttered worriedly. Rolf nodded, just as worried. In the pass 4 hours, neither Soren nor Snow woke up.

"Mist. Rolf. Leave." Boyd muttered to them as he walked in. They glared at him but complied. "C'mon Snow wake up. Soren you have to wake up. You're the one always trying to keep _us_ out of trouble so wake up." Boyd growled in frustration. He got up, turned around, and sighed. He closed the door gently and left Soren and Snow to rest. None of the mercenaries knew that Soren and Snow were having dreams though. Dreams that would change them for good.

* * *

Well how'd you guys like it. Love it? Hate it? Tell me all about it in a review! I want feedback! Ok until next time!


	10. Chapter 10: Dreams

Hey guys I'm back! Sorry for the long wait! I honestly just got lazy. On the bright and unrelated side to the story... i graduated! Yay! Anyways enough talk from me. Here's the story!

Disclaimer: Do not own FE except the characters I made

Now then without further ado... Here's the story!

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Chapter 10: Dreams

(Snow POV)

"What the? Where am I?" I looked around the clearing. I was in a forest. The birds were chirping and the sun was bright. I turned and saw Soren next to me. I shook him awake as he groaned.

"Where the hell are we?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"I have no idea. I just know we aren't in the war anymore." He glared at me as if to say 'Thank you captain duh!'. I got up and held a hand out for Soren.

"C'mon, let's check this place out!" I told him cheerfully. He sighed and took my hand and got up.

"Fine. Let's go this way." He pointed towards east and I shook my head.

"No. Something's telling me to go north." I gripped his hand and tugged him north. Soren sighed and snapped his hand away from mine.

"Fine but you don't have to hold my hand like I'm a little kid." He said glaring at me. I shrugged and continued. We entered into a clearing with bright sunlight filtering in. In front of us were several white herons. My head started to throb erratically. I fell to the ground in pain. Images flashed once again. Suddenly the scene changed to a dark stormy castle. I felt the rain droplets as they fell on my skin. I looked up at the dreary sky and saw Soren shuddering.

"You ok Sor?" I asked him confused at the quick change of scenery. Soren continue to shudder as he watched the castle. "Sor?" I looked in the direction he was looking and saw a woman run out of the castle holding a child. She ran pass us and didn't look back. Soren looked like he was going to be sick. The scene changed again to a boy on the streets looking half-starved. He looked up and I saw the mark and the familiar face.

"Soren is that you?" I asked him as he started to slump to the ground.

"Y-yeah. I have no idea what's going on now though." Never in my life have I seen Soren so shaken up.

"Soren I think were watching your memories." I told him seriously. I continued to watch the little boy and almost started to cry when I saw the little boy cry out for his mother. Soren saw me falter and shook his head.

"Do not feel pity for me. What's done is done. You cannot change the past." I opened my mouth but then closed it. There was nothing to say. The scene changed again and this time it was the scene where Shin and I were in school.

"Shin," I whispered as I saw him come up behind me and put his hand over my eyes. I watched as I turned and punched him in the stomach. I smiled sadly at the sight of the past.

"So _that's_ who Shin is." Soren muttered softly. I didn't even hear him as I watched the next scene come out. My brother was holding a sword and I was next to him. He swung it left, right, and then thrust. I copied that and we continued.

"I remember this, it was the day before he left." I whispered.

"Let me guess, he's your brother?" I nodded sadly.

"Yeah, this was the last time I ever saw him." Soren patted my head as if to say 'There, there'. It felt awkward with him being shorter than me. The image changed again and this time a huge magic circle appeared. My head started to throb again and I saw a white light. I reached out towards the circle and felt my hand burn.

"What is this?" I screeched as I felt not only my hand, but my body burn. I heard a voice then.

"Do not search your mind further! Let it rest!" I gasped at the sound of the voice.

"Mother?" I screamed.

"Leave this place at once! It is not safe to venture further!" she continued.

"What do you mean? How on earth do I get out?" The voice kept repeating the same thing, never changing its speech. I felt my whole body ripple and felt it being torn. Tears started to leak out and I cried in agony and pain. I suddenly felt a hand guiding me out of the light and back into-

"Snow!" I opened my eyes to see an anxious Rolf and Mist over me.

"What's wrong you guys?" I asked them.

"You were screaming and so was Soren!" Mist told me.

"Soren… I forgot about him! Was he the one guiding me out?" I thought wildly. I turned to see Soren awake and staring at me. Mist and Rolf looked at each other and nodded.

"We'll get you guys something to eat!" With that they exited. I looked at my hand to see an ugly burnt hand. I covered it with my other hand quickly.

"Soren, you were in my dream. Did we have the same one?" I asked him. Soren nodded.

"Think so but then I lost you and I woke up." I shook my head in disbelief.

"No way… Then I suppose you didn't guide me out?" He shook his head now.

"What was that circle supposed to mean?" I thought to myself. I shook my head and asked Soren a question to take my mind off of it.

"Soren, was that really you?" I asked him hesitantly. He nodded immediately.

"Yeah, so what?" he asked bitterly.

"Nothing… just wanted to know." I told him softly. I scratched my head and groaned.

"Why did we share a dream about the past?" I asked him confused. He shook his head.

"No idea but I'm sure we'll find out soon," he told me quietly. I looked out the small window next to me and sighed.

"I'm sure we will."

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Well how was it? Curious? Loved it? Hate it? Well tell me what you think of it in a review! Until next time! Later!


	11. Chapter 11: A New Land

Hey! Sorry for the lateness. Honestly I am having a harsh reality with highschool so updates are going to be extremely slow most likely and honestly I rushed this chapter like a lot so sorry about that.

Disclaimer: Do not own FE

Without further ado... Here's the story!

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Chapter 11: A New Land

(Ike POV)

It was daybreak as everyone began to move. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Everything was bright and vibrant. It was the perfect start to the new day. Especially when Soren and Snow finally woke up. With all of this great stuff happening, why is everything taking a turn for the worst?

"We're traveling with these sub-humans?" Soren cried out. Lethe hissed at Soren.

"We are **not** _sub-humans_." She snarled out. Soren glared right back at her. I nudged Soren in the side.

"They are laguz, not that word." Soren made a look of indifference. Snow watched on warily. I coughed and smiled tiredly.

"I apologize for my friend, he didn't mean it." I told them. Mordecai nodded.

"We accept." Mordecai replied back. "I understand how strange it is after knowing us as _that_." I smiled and nodded. Lethe just growled and stood.

"This is pointless. We should be moving in case of an attack." I looked at her confused.

"I thought we were already in Gallia." She nodded.

"True but we are only at the border of Gallia. To the castle itself will take you several days. It will take a laguz three days but for you _humans_ it will take at least two weeks." She finished, walking out of the room.

"Lethe!" Mordecai shouted and sighed. "I apologize." I shook my head.

"No it's alright." I told him. I watched as Soren got up at the same time as Snow. I looked at Soren and Snow's tired and slightly pale face.

"I forgot to tell you and I'm sure Oscar told you but a girl named Ilyana joined us yesterday. She is part of that caravan we met." Ike nodded and stood up as well as he saw Soren slightly falter in step. Soren brushed me off when I tried to help him.

"Ike, we're fine. We should start our day now. We won't reach Gallia if we don't hurry up." Soren told me. I nodded.

"Alright let's start out."

-X-

(Snow POV)

"Soren are you alright? You're so pale…" I told him as we began gathering our stuff. (Since Soren and Snow fainted, their stuff was placed in the same room where they rested.) He kept quiet for a while. I sighed and put each of my tomes in the pockets of my cape. I attached it to my outfit quietly and began to put my other stuff inside my backpack when I slipped. Soren caught me with both arms around my waist. I blushed slightly at the contact.

"Thanks Sor. Never thought you would actually catch me." I told him smiling. I felt his arms tighten.

"What's wrong?" He asked so gently I almost slipped out of his arms.

"N-nothing… C'mon let go Sor." I told him while slowly prying his arms off of me.

"You're pale and you're not acting lie yourself. Honestly, you look about ready to faint and puke." I smiled tiredly.

"Touché Sor." He nodded and led me to the bed. "Soren why are you acting like this?"

"I should be asking you that. Snow, what's wrong? You've been crying, having visions, and fainting." I looked at Soren's slightly concerned eyes.

"Nothing's wrong Soren. I'm just a bit tired lately." I got up quickly and smiled. "Well we better get going!" Soren got up and ruffled my hair awkwardly. Considering I am taller than Soren, it was strange.

"Don't take me as an idiot." He mumbled and took his belongings and left.

"Like I could…" I mumbled myself.

-X-

While crossing through Gallia, we haven't seen a single soul besides us yet. Until a few moments later.

"There it is! The group of mercenaries hired by Princess Elincia!" a random soldier cried out. "General Kotaff! They are headed our way." Kotaff laughed and smiled.

"Let them come, then kill them all!" he cackled.

"Ike we have trouble." Mordecai grunted out, staring straight ahead. Ike nodded and got off, helping Soren too. Everyone stopped and got off as well. Just as Rolf and Mist was beginning to get off, Ike stopped them.

"What are you two doing? Run! Go hide!" Mist scrunched up her face.

"No! I'm tired of hiding Ike! I won't let you go out there without me!" Ike shook his head when Soren spoke up coldly.

"You'll only be a burden." Mist looked hurt but then quickly shook her head.

"No! I can use staves!" As if to show us, she pointed to her back where she held a heal staff. Before anyone can say anything, she continued quickly. "Rolf can use a bow too! Please Ike! I don't want what happened to father happen to you!" Ike looked reluctant before Rhys spoke up.

"Ike. I know this sounds strange coming from me but let her fight. She'll be far safer with us then alone in the woods. Same goes for Rolf." Everyone stared at him wide eyed. Titania stared at him as if he was mad.

"This is coming from the guy who wants Rolf and Mist to avoid any type of blood at all. Even when giving them shots to avoid diseases you would cover their eyes!" Titania shouted.

"Well this is war Titania! You should know better than anyone." Rhys continued. I spoke up bored then.

"Look if you want to fight, go ahead. There's an army right there ready to turn us to corpses. I don't know how you guys feel but I would rather fight back now." Everyone nodded in somewhat agreement.

"Soren, go ahead with your strategy. I just want to let loose hell right now." I told him simply, not even bothering to pay attention to Soren's briefing. Soren came up to me after the briefing and dragged me by the collar to the east with him, Ike, Titania, Mia, and Rhys. I brushed his hand away from me and started moving.

-X-

(Soren POV)

"What is her problem?" I thought pissed. I watched her as she burned a bandit without hesitation. She then turned towards another bandit who already closed in on her and got hit. She then took out her dagger and pierced him in the heart. As she turned, bloodstained, she glared at me.

"What the hell are you looking at? If you're not going to fight then get out of my way." She moved towards another bandit then. I clenched my fists and growled.

"What is wrong with her?"

-X-

(Jenny POV)

"Get out of my way." I hissed to Soren. I stormed off to fight another bandit, not bothering to notice my bleeding arm. I saw a bandit 20 feet ahead of me; about to burn a house down so I did the only thing I could think of, I threw my dagger. I watched as the dagger whizzed through the air in slow motion, whizzing pass fast only to miss. The dagger landed harmlessly into the house wall.

"Oh crap." I watched as the bandit rushed towards me. I held my other dagger up in defense only to have Ike intercept.

"What are you an idiot? Go get your dagger!" I nodded towards him in thanks and went to get my dagger when another bandit intercepted me. I held up my dagger in defense. The bandit threw down his axe as I nimbly dodged it. I went up to his face and slashed at him. The bandit took it and threw down his axe. I barely dodged it. The bandit then took his axe and threw it down while I was still on the ground. I watched my life flash before my eyes. I blinked when I saw Soren tackle me to the side of the blow.

"What is wrong with you? Why didn't you bother trying to dodge it?" I blinked at him confused.

"I… I'm sorry…" Soren sighed.

"You're hope-" I shoved him quickly then. The bandit had thrown his axe down at where Soren would've been killed. Instead, I threw my dagger up and a screech of metal on metal echoed across the field. I grunted at the weight of the bandit who is now on top of me, pushing the axe down. Perspiration ran down my face as I tried to withstand his weight. I felt myself lose my grip and quickly closed my eyes. What I didn't expect to hear was growls and a pained voice screaming on top of me. I slowly opened my eyes to see a blue tiger in front of me. I swallowed and looked at the blue tiger staring at me. I smiled at him when I realized it was Mordecai. I reached out y hand and held his paw.

"Thank you very much." I whispered to him. My eyes widened when I saw a fire mage chant out a spell towards him. I shoved Mordecai out of the way with all my strength and took the blow instead. I took out my own fire tome and cast it on the mage. Neither of us did much damage. I watched as the mage started another chant and quickly rushed to kill him. I looked around for my dagger and found them in the hands of Lethe. She threw the weapon at me with distaste and transformed quickly into a cat to fight another bandit. I got up and walked over to Rhys, holding my injured arm.

"What happened?" He whispered horrified as he quickly healed me.

"We're at war." I said simply. Rhys shook his head. When he was finished I quickly ran off to fight again.

In another hour, the fighting was done. Everyone was able to escape with minimal injuries. We continued our march to the heart of Gallia, occasionally stopping to rest. For the remainder of that trip, everyone was quiet. Especially Rolf, who occasionally took out his water canteen to wash his hands, apparently trying to wash the "blood" from his hands. We soon reached the Gallian castle and met up with Princess Elincia. When we did, she, Ike, and Soren went to meet King Caenighis with me staying behind for some rest. When we reached the castle, it was still early in the morning so I sat out under the trees watched the birds fly in the sky. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until darkness came and I realized somebody had put a blanket around me. I yawned as I headed towards my room when I realized that a blue cat was waiting for me outside.

"Ranulf?" I asked him. He smiled and bowed.

"Yes. I am surprised you remembered." I smiled at him. He watched me carefully and smiled back. "I see you woke up from your slumber. Were you having a good dream? You were smiling throughout." I blushed lightly hearing that.

"Yes. I was remembering some childhood memories." It took a minute but then it clicked. "Is this blanket yours?" I held it up and he nodded.

"Yes. It's mine." I held it out to him and thanked him. He smiled and shook his head. "It's not me you should thank." I cocked my head in confusion. "This is my blanket but you have to thank a hot-headed lion for that. He ordered me to get my blanket and he put it around you himself." I nodded quickly.

"Tell him I said thanks will you?" I asked him. Ranulf nodded as I started to walk into my room when I realized he was still there.

"What are you doing here anyway Ranulf?" He smiled sheepishly.

"No particular reason. Good night." He mumbled as he walked pass me. I walked into my room for the night and sat on my bed. I was about to drift off to sleep when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it to see Mist and Rolf with a tray of food.

"You didn't eat yet so here." Mist shoved the food into my hands quickly. I thanked her and was about to close my door when Rolf spoke up.

"Can I speak with you for a minute?" I nodded and watched as Mist nodded to Rolf and walked away. I closed the door and watched as Rolf paced around the floor.

"Snow…. I'm scared. I can't stop washing my hands. It feels gross." I went up to Rolf and hugged him. "I'm so scared. I don't want to fight…"

"You don't have to Rolf." I whispered to him gently.

"But if I don't I'll lose everyone important to me."

"Rolf, shouldn't you be talking about this with Boyd or Oscar or even Titania?" Rolf shook his head.

"They won't understand. You do because you had to kill recently too!"

"Rolf, it won't get easier to kill someone. It never will but if you don't fight then you'll only be a burden to us." I told him harshly. I rubbed his cheek and kissed his forehead. "This is a decision you have to make. Not anyone else, _you_." Rolf shook his head and sighed.

"You're no help." I laughed loudly.

"Of course not!" Rolf ended up sleeping in the same room as me for that night as we talked about things of the past. We talked about from when I first moved in with them to when we tossed Boyd's things over the pond to mess with him.

When I woke up, I felt sick. I put my hand over my mouth to keep away the nausea. That didn't work so I got up and ran outside. I ended up vomiting on a nearby shrub. I felt a hand on my back as I kept throwing up last night's dinner. I looked up to see King Caenighis himself and Ranulf standing there. I blushed and my eyes widened in horror.

"I'm sorry King Caenighis." I stood up quickly and bowed. At that moment Ike and Soren happened to show up also. Lovely.

"Snow?" Soren cried with unusual emotion. "What happened?" he quickly recomposed.

"I felt sick and puked and King Caenighis was rubbing my back…" I mumbled out. Ranulf chuckled quietly which made me even redder. Caenighis shook his head.

"It is fine. Are you feeling better now?" I nodded and Caenighis smiled. He looked so much like a father and acted even more like one. He ruffled my head and patted me on the shoulder.

"You have a long day ahead of you now so go." I nodded and walked towards my room when Rolf came out the same corner.

"Snow! What happened? You weren't in your room!"

"Nothing don't worry about it." I told him. I started walking to my room when another wav of nausea hit me. I started after another shrub and vomited again. This time though, Ike's hand was on my back though. My vision started to have black dots and I started to blank out. I only vaguely head Ike calling my name before I blanked out.

* * *

Nya~ This turned out like nothing I planned. I didn't even plan for Caenighis to show up in act this whole chapter was completely different from what I planned out in my head... Hope you guys liked it anyways though! As always please review and later!


	12. Chapter 12: In SIckness and in Health

Argh! I'm so mad at myself for not updating sooner! Sorry you guys. Lots of things were pulling me back from updating. I'll try to update faster. By the way this chapter turned out like nothing that I thought it should've been for so sorry for that also. Anyways here's the story!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it

Now then without further ado... Here's the story!

* * *

Chapter 12: In Sickness and in Health

(No PoV)

"Snow!" Ike cried in alarm. He quickly caught the fainted girl. He placed his hand on her forehead. "She's burning up!" Soren rushed over and placed his hand on her forehead.

"This isn't good. It looks like she overworked herself. Ike put her on the bed in her room." Ike nodded and quickly lifted her to her room. Ike lay her gently on the bed and pulled the cover over her body. Rolf looked worriedly at the still body in my arms.

"Ike is Snow going to be alright?" He asked with puppy dog eyes. Ike looked at the boy and shrugged.

"I can't say. Go get Rhys, he'll know." Rolf nodded and immediately went in search for the priest. Just as Rolf left, Snow began to stir and turn. She opened her eyes to find all of us staring at us. She smiled slightly but it quickly turned to a frown as she stood and ran outside. We all followed after her. She hung her head over a bush as she tried to retch. Nothing came out but salted water. Her face was contorted in pain, as her face was flushed red. She clenched her stomach as she started to retch. Ranulf went over to rub her back soothingly.

"Stop!" She wheezed after her second fit. "Ranulf it's making it worse!" Ranulf immediately stopped and moved away. Just as he moved she started to puke again.

"Snow you better not die on me!" Ike whispered to her as he caught her before she collapsed once again. Ike lifted her to her room once again and lay her down. He felt her forehead again and shook my head.

"It's warmer than before." Ike felt someone nudge me away from Snow and looked to see it was Soren. Soren placed a towel on her forehead and he could see Snow was cooling a bit.

"When'd you leave?" Ike asked him confused. He never noticed him leaving.

"A minute ago." He answered curtly as he began to wash the towel in the tub he brought along with him. He once again placed it on her forehead. We heard footsteps toward us and we all turned. Rhys came in flushed and out of breath with Rolf standing firmly next to him. Rhys immediately came up to Snow and felt her cheek.

"She's warm. Ike what else happened so far?" Rhys immediately asked without hesitation. Ike told of what he knew about Snow's sudden sickness. Rhys nodded and went towards Snow then. "Snow open your mouth." She slowly opened her mouth and Rhys checked inside.

"Snow did you have any specific allergies or food you can't stand?" Snow shook her head.

"No? Then any food that you eat would make you feel sick?" Snow shook her head again but then started upright and rushed outside again. She started to puke once more and blacked out. Ike sighed and took hold of her body to lay on her bed again. Rhys went over and felt her heart rate.

"It doesn't seem to be affecting her heart at least… Its strange though because Boyd seems to have the same symptoms." Ike started up, staring at Rhys.

"What do you mean?" Ike asked worriedly.

"Then it must be something they both ate." Ike rubbed his temple and nodded. Rolf started up.

"Well Snow didn't go to the dining hall yesterday and Mist and I brought food for her." Rhys turned to Rolf immediately.

"Who cooked it?" Rolf shrugged.

"I think it was Mist. I think she made meatloaf." All of the Greil mercenaries shivered. Ike suddenly remembered something.

"How is Boyd sick?" Rolf stroked the back of his head.

"Mist kinda force fed him it…" Rolf mumbled. Ike face palmed his face.

"Well I guess it was just food poisoning…" Ike sighed. "Good thing eh Soren?" Ike turned to see Soren touching Snow's face. Soren looked up abruptly and moved his hand away quickly.

"Well I recommend since we lost not only Snow but Boyd also, we take a week to recover and gather our supplies." Soren spoke quickly, leaving no trace of the emotions he had a second before. Ike nodded.

"That makes sense. I'm not willing to leave behind family."

"I will make sure my people will not harm you or your companions as long as you're here." Caineghis spoke. "Now then, I think we should all let her rest. She seems to need her rest." Everyone nodded and started to exit the room except for Ranulf and Soren.

Ranulf spoke quickly. "I'm surprised. I wouldn't think you would show so much emotion for the girl." Soren glared at him.

"None of your business. Why don't you leave now?" Soren asked seething a bit. Ranulf shrugged.

"After you." Ranulf smiled at the mage who in turn huffed indignantly and walked away. Ranulf then proceeded to follow until they reached the crossroads in which Soren walked away and the cat moved back into Snow's room. Ranulf touched the girl's forehead and felt that the fever once there was going down. He quickly moved his hand away and scanned the room. He looked around, seemingly satisfied and left.

Although nobody could see, the shell Snow found was glowing lightly and playing it's soft tune.

* * *

Ok this was probably the shortest and worst chapter I wrote for this. I hope you guys liked it anyways though. Honestly though, I couldn't think of another reason for Snow to get sick so I used the meatloaf thing. Well then as always review and see you guys next time! Laters!


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